One last Job
by louann97
Summary: Notorious criminal Niklaus Mikaelson had killed the person who ruthlessly murdered his brother Henrik, but now it was time to finally get even. One last job before he could disappear forever... To do so he needs the perfect team... among them... Caroline Forbes... AU
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! So this is my first AU fic and my newest Klaroline fic– I have written another so if you get a chance please have a look.**

**I hope you enjoy this, and I know there's a total lack of Klaroline, but that will be coming soon! :D**

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**Klaus's POV**

I gave a sigh and looked out onto the view of the sea from the hotel window. Around me were my belongings that I'd been carrying from place to place for the past year.

Life as a wanted criminal was not easy.

I reflected back onto the time when I'd been on the other side of the wanted poster; the man who had tracked down and brought justice to criminals; and now… I was one.

I knew when I pulled the trigger and committed murder that there was no going back, but ultimately I, Niklaus Mikaelson didn't care; I'd gotten even and killed Tyler Lockwood the man who had so ruthlessly taken the life of my brother Henrik. In my mind revenge for my brother was more important than the constant reminder of a life in prison.

When I'd fled my old life I'd altered everything about myself; my appearance, my mind-set and my future. No longer was I the weedy local FBI officer who crumbled under the wrath of my boss, or buckled under the weight of my father's judgement. Now, I was the Niklaus Mikaelson, who travelled the globe, had a ruthless reputation and is an insanely good professional criminal.

I walked back into the penthouse suite which I was currently calling home; I glanced at the news scrolling across the screen of the plasma TV and a sick feeling rushed to my stomach. Playing before me was an interview with Mason Lockwood, who had just come into a large amount of money thanks to his business apparently; the interviewer was asking him how he'd created himself such a successful business from nothing. He mentioned something about loyal staff and a leap of faith which had luckily paid off. I knew that was a bunch of bullshit. The reason Mason Lockwood was loaded was due to heading up a large drugs trade and arms dealings.

I myself was a criminal, but I was pushed to it thanks to Tyler Lockwood and his brother Mason; I'd sought my revenge on Tyler, but I knew that Mason was involved.

As I stared at his smug expression on the large TV I knew that it was time to take him down a peg; to finally get completely even.

It was time for one last job; one last job before I went off the radar forever… and I knew I was going to need some help…

**Stefan's POV**

I'd received Klaus's call a matter of minutes ago, in which he'd informed me of his plan for one final job.

Klaus and I had been partners in the force, and I knew that when he went he went rogue I had reached a natural ultimatum; it was either him and our friendship, or my career. There was no way I could be a member of the FBI and friends with one of the most wanted criminals. When it came down to it I had chosen Klaus; and it wasn't even a difficult decision. I thought that my strong sense of morals would have gotten in my way; I thought that I would have had some kind of aversion to criminal activities… however… something about the thrill and reward of it seemed to almost turn off my humanity?

Klaus had asked me to contact some loyal acquaintances who I thought could help us successfully carry out this heist.

I pulled my _'business'_ phone from the draw in the study and brought up my contact list.

I knew straight away that my first call would be to Caroline Forbes; she was as cunning as a fox and looked like a princess, many times had she played a very useful distraction and often the brains behind an operation.

I clicked dial and put the phone to my ear.

"Hey Stef, what's up?"

"We've got a job Caroline; and I know you're going to love it… it's going to be the biggest reward yet…"

"Sounds interesting; who we associating with this time?" She asked curiously.

"The usual lot and…Niklaus Mikaelson" I said with an undertone of dread in my voice, his reputation could often put people off.

"THE Niklaus Mikaelson?!" She screeched down the phone, and I swear I could hear something smashing on the other end of the line.

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…**I hope you liked this first chapter; please review and follow so I know whether or not to continue…**

**Thanks! **

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	2. Chapter 2

**Caroline's POV**

I hung up my phone and slung it onto my bed; Stefan had hit me with some pretty shocking news and I wasn't quite sure how to respond. Niklaus Mikaelson, from what I'd heard was a bad guy, and didn't play nice; on the other hand, you can't always believe the gossip that you hear. Stefan Salvatore and I had been pretty close for at least three years now, after we met whilst we were both trying to con the same businessman; if Stefan said Klaus is a good guy then I trusted his judgment.

I lay back onto my bed in my reasonably priced apartment in Mystic Falls. Mystic Falls was such a small town it was barely even on a map; therefore that's where I, Caroline Forbes lived. On the weekends, or late nights during the week, I would see to business up in the city, or do jobs for the highest bidder; after my work was done I would return here, no one ever thought to look for a criminal in the town of Mystic Falls.

I wondered who else was in on this job; if Stefan was recruiting some people for Klaus then I assumed it would be the usual candidates: Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie, Matt and maybe his brother Damon if he could manage to track him down, or if they weren't in the middle of a feud like they so often were.

Elena, like me also lived in Mystic Falls; she too had realized how it made the perfect camouflage, a criminal living here was just as likely as finding flying horses... Elena and I are an exception to that rule of course.

I retrieved my phone from my bed and hit speed-dial; she was obviously my number one...

"Hey Care!" Elena answered on the first ring.

"You heard about the job?" I inquired, deciding to get straight to the point.

"Yes I did, and I think it's a perfect opportunity; I think the cops are starting to get wary about my comings and goings around here. - I need enough money to get the hell out of here and settle down in a completely new country; preferably one with no extradition!" She laughed down the phone; obviously not worried about the prospect of teaming up with Niklaus.

"But didn't you hear that it's NIklaus Mikaelsons' job?" I asked quickly.

"I sure did, but Stefan assured me that he's a good guy; and from all the gossip that went round we know that he only killed Tyler Lockwood because of the horrific things that he did to his brother." Elena said matter-of-factly.

"oops" she then sputtered out.

"Care, I'm so sorry that I brought that up; I completely forgot that you and that Tyler guy had a thing for a while. I'm really sorry I didn't mean to unearth bad memories!" she exclaimed.

"It's fine." I replied quickly, glad that Elena couldn't see how much I was shaking.

"Anyway Care, Stefan sent us those co-ordinates for the meeting point; and I'm pretty sure it's down somewhere in North Carolina - I would say that we could ride together, but I have a feeling that could arise some peoples suspicions." Elena spoke sensibly; I knew that she had a point.

"Okay then, if you're in on this job then so am I; can't have my best friend getting into trouble and getting rich without me!" I exclaimed.

"Like you said, we don't want anything to look suspicious so I'm going to leave for the meeting point a day or so early and then you follow a few days after. That way no-one will have any reason to think we're going to the same place..."

"Girl, that sounds like a pretty damn good plan to me!" Elena laughed.

"Ok, I'll be seeing you soon!" I replied, and then ended the call.

I dropped my head into my hands and tried to free my mind of any thoughts before I had to start planning for what was ahead.

My mind drifted to the thought of Tyler Lockwood; I met him when I'd been running some scheme in Vegas, trying to rob some millionaire called Alaric Saltzman. Let's just say that things hadn't gone smoothly and Tyler had been the one to get me out of trouble - thanks to that though I'd been in his debt, and his price was for me to be his girlfriend. Apparently, he'd taken some kind of liking to me; it hadn't been so bad having to spend time with him; but I'd been able to tell right from the beginning that he was one of the biggest villains I was ever likely to meet. My theory was proved right when he brutally tortured and murdered Henrik Mikaelson.

If there was one thing I knew for sure, if I was going to work with Niklaus, he could never ever know about my connection to Tyler Lockwood... or there'd be hell to pay...

... Maybe even worse...

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**Hey! **

**Thanks for reading; I decided to do a double update as this is a new story...**

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	3. Preparing for NC

**Klaus's POV**

I rolled over in the king-sized bed and stared up at the ceiling; from all this jumping from place to place I'd completely forgotten about the Island down in North Carolina that I'd asked Stefan to buy for me under a false identity. I knew it would be the perfect rendezvous point, it was nice and secluded and not many people knew of it.

I looked forward to seeing my siblings Kol, Rebecca and Elijah; it seemed that I only saw them when we were doing a job. I guess that was the way it was when you were all wanted criminals.

I rose from the bed and padded into the bathroom; a bathroom fit for a king may I add... marble floors, sinks and toilet. I stepped into the shower and turned it onto the hottest setting; I needed something to wake me up and prepare me for the day I had ahead of me. Once I was done I dried myself off and pulled on some clothes. Then began gathering up my belongings, fitting them all into the very small kit bag which I had brought with me.

My mobile phone rang from the corner of the room; I made my way over and saw that the caller ID read: 'Stefan'. I answered it with a smile on my face.

"Please tell me everything's going smoothly!" I spoke seriously, not bothering with the pleasantries; Stefan knew what I was like.

"Everything has been pretty good so far; I didn't manage to get everyone whom I usually work with but I guess what I've got will just have to do." Stefan said exasperatedly.

"Okay then Stef, they better be good at what they do though; this is not a job that I want to see going wrong, it means to much...Tell me about them..." I replied, deciding that I had a while longer to talk.

"Elena Gilbert: The best safe cracker/lock picker I have ever met; I bet she could even break out of the highest security prison around." Stefan spoke admiringly. I could almost sense some kind of history between them.

"Mhmmm..." I replied in a non-committal way.

"Elena's brother, Jeremy GIlbert good at undercover work, and has got muscles on him the size of China." Stefan laughed as he spoke.

"Bonnie Bennett; master of sleuthing, she makes some of those herbal remedies for all occasion, knocks out guards easy-peasy... sometimes I think she's so good that she may even be magic..." He said sarcastically.

"Continue..." I said quietly, beginning to feel slightly curious.

"Matt Honeycutt; an all-rounder, can back up any position necessary and good with explosives."

"Hhhmm, he sounds useful." I replied.

"My brother Damon if he shows, you know what he's like, not at-all reliable but a useful bastard." Stefan spoke bitterly.

"His loss..." Was all I replied, I thought Damon Salvatore was a dick, and if he couldn't turn up to pull off one of the biggest jobs, with the biggest reward ever; then he was obviously an idiot.

"And finally Caroline Forbes; amazing driver, she can get out of anywhere by any mode of transport necessary, an absolute ninja in hand to hand combat, and has never given away information once captured." Stefan said with a hint of proudness in his voice.

That was when I began to get very excited; I too liked to think myself as a pretty damn good driver, and I was sure that we were going to need at least two precision drivers to get this job done. Furthermore, the fact that she was trained in combat seriously impressed me. If she was this skilled and liked cars then I was pretty sure she was going to be a total tomboy; it was a shame really, she sounded like my 'type'...

"What do you mean, 'she has never give away information once captured'?" I asked curiously.

"Sorry mate, I can't really expand on that, that's her business; maybe she'll tell you once she gets to know you. Anyway, I best be going; see you down on the Island in a few days..."

"Okay." I hung up, slightly unsettled about the Caroline Forbes matter; I really wanted to know more about her. I guess I would just have to wait and find out...

**Caroline's POV**

I clambered from my bed and threw on some clothes for the gym; I decided a quick gym session before leaving could only help me. I'd been going every day for the past two years on my life; I knew I needed to be in peak shape to be a successful professional criminal.

Before leaving however, my curiosity got the best of me; I grabbed my laptop and typed 'Niklaus Mikaelson' into the search engine.

Good ol' Wikipedia informed me that he had captured and tortured Tyler Lockwood before finally shooting him; it also said he'd been connected to at least six crimes around the globe; if not more and at least four of them including lethal weapons and force. There was even a footnote at the bottom stating that the state of his mental health was in question. I found myself sympathizing with him slightly, if what had happened to his brother had happened to mine, I knew that I would also be in a pretty shaky state of mind.

I slammed shut the lid of my laptop and grabbed my kit bag from the table, deciding that that was the last time I was going to question or interrogate Niklaus Mikaelson.

At the gym I had a long, intense workout; using the treadmill, cross-trainer and weights. After that, which I considered nothing other than a warm up, John Gilbert the gym owner came in and did some sparring with me. Something which the two of us did often; he was the one who recommended I take self-defense classes a long time ago, and training between the two of us had become some kind of ritual.

"Good work today Caroline!" John shouted at me as I picked up my things to leave.

"Aw, thanks John" I replied, before wiping the sweat from my forehead and leaving. Man… I really needed a shower…

I walked home slowly, welcoming the breeze to cool me off.

When I arrived home I promptly got in the shower, washed my hair and scrubbed myself completely clean. I then pulled on my clothes and grabbed my already packed rucksack from the side. I chose my Honda Fireblade sports bike as my mode of transport down to North Carolina, it was going to take me quite a while and I knew that I may as well enjoy it. Anyway, I figured I could be there if in half the time if I took my bike, I could probably push it to at least 90mph on the freeway.

I slung my well-worn leather bike jacket onto my shoulders and tugged on my boots; I secured my rucksack on my back and grabbed my helmet from the cupboard.

I went to the garage and wheeled out my bike, started the engine, pulled on my helmet and climbed on.

I pumped the throttle a couple of times and reveled in the lovely roaring sound that it made; I leant forward, kicked back the stand and set off on my way to North Carolina…

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**Hello! So a big thanks to those of you who are reading this. I know this version of Caroline is way different from how she is in the show, but I figured as this is an AU story that I could play around with her character slightly. **

**I hope you liked this chapter.**

**Please continue to read, review and follow.**

**Thanks :D**


	4. The Suprise

**Hey everyone! **

**So here's the next chapter - just a quick note to say that someone mentioned to me that I had given Matt the last name Honeycutt rather than Donovan... I meant Matt Donovan and I've been trying to think why I wrote the name Honeycutt, I just remembered that it is his last name in the book and I must have gotten them muddled up!**

**Sorry if my mistake confused anyone! **

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**Klaus's POV**

I'd finally reached my home in North Carolina and it felt great to be back; since Stefan had bought it for me I had only spent a minimal amount of time here, yet it still felt like home. As much as I loved all the complimentary toiletries and towels in the hotels, there was nothing quite like your own belongings, your own bed, and your own space.

No one in the local town had recognized me which was fortunate; this place was pretty far out so it was possible that they had missed out on the news about the criminal that is Niklaus Mikaelson. Unlike the cities, there were no cheesy 'wanted' posters and 'have you seen this man' posters stuck everywhere. Luckily for me that would at least mean that I wouldn't have to move house again anytime soon.

Last night I'd had an extremely therapeutic sleep; I didn't have to lie in my bed worrying if I had been discovered, I had a chance to completely relax for once. Now I had to face the task of uncovering all of my furniture and cleaning the layer of dirt that coated my kitchen appliances; I knew there wouldn't be any food for me until I'd gotten my stuff in order!

I was decked out in my favorite pair of old jeans which I hadn't taken with me on my latest adventures, and I discovered that I really had missed them. I tugged a jumper over my head, made my way down the stairs and turned the radio onto my favorite station before tugging up my sleeves to prepare for work.

**Caroline's POV**

I'd really pushed my bike to the limits on the freeway and it seemed that I'd reached the small coastal town of Southport, NC, sooner than I expected. I pulled into a parking bay and tugged my helmet from my head; I stared around, unsure of what to do considering I was so early. Furthermore, I looked at the GPS on my phone and it seemed that I had reached the co-ordinates I had been given, yet I just seemed to be in the middle of a busy little town.

I gave a huff of exasperation, when a small diner not too far of a walk away caught my eye. I swung my leg from my bike and hoisted my backpack higher onto my shoulders before making my way towards the diner.

Once inside I settled down into a booth, removed my jacket and sat back; I could relax as I knew I definitely wasn't wanted in this state… as far as I could remember anyway!

A cheery looking waiter came over to take my order; he gave me a cheeky smile and not-so-subtly brushed his hand over my arm. What a creep I thought to myself; he didn't even have a clue the ways that I could break all of the bones in his body.

"Ma'am, what can I get you?"

"Uuum… I think I'll just have a coffee please." I said smiling brightly, trying to play the happy tourist as I didn't want to draw any attention to myself. I restrained myself from punching him, even though he kept continually brushing against me.

I saw him walk away to tend to some other customers; he seemed like he knew the lay of the land, I was pretty sure if anyone knew where Niklaus Mikaelson lived, it were him. The only problem however, was I couldn't remember the name that he went by in this area; was it Klaus, Niklaus, Nik, I screwed my face up infuriated. What was his name?

The waiter came back over and placed my coffee down on the table.

"There you go ma'am; anything else I can do for you?" He said with a leering smile, and he even had the audacity to throw me a sneaky wink.

Finally I remembered the name that Niklaus went by. I couldn't help but tease the waiter a bit.

"So I was wondering if you know my boyfriend Nicholas Mikaels he lives in the area?" I asked sneakily.

"Ah yes. The man that lives on the private Island. I hear there's a boat that leaves from the dock to his island, but you can only get on it if the captain has been informed of your visit…" I smiled as the waiter spoke; his face had paled considerably and it became obvious that even though Niklaus was under a false identity he was still considered dangerous. This poor man thought he'd been hitting on Niklaus's girl, ha-ha… served him right, the pervert…

I drank my coffee and tossed some money onto the table. Thanks to the 'handsy' waiter I now knew exactly where to go. Pulling my jacket back onto my shoulders, I picked up my backpack and helmet and left the diner.

**Klaus's POV**

Despite my good intentions of cleaning this place from top to bottom, plans had unfortunately changed. I had now found myself sat on the couch, eating some chips that were still just about in date and watching back-to-back wife swap. Yes, I was embarrassed by my liking to the program, but you've got to admit it is definitely addictive and hilarious. Some of the men on this show put up with the most incessant women I could ever imagine meeting; it was quite shocking.

That's when I heard a fierce sounding knock on my front door, and the relaxed mood was over. I reached for the gun I kept hidden in the sideboard draw; I pulled it open gently and began assembling the weapon.

The knock on the door grew louder.

I loaded the gun and took off the safety before quietly making my way towards the door. My breath caught in my throat and the adrenaline was coursing through my veins just like it did before any fight.

I reached for the door handle before changing my tactics; I decided it was best to take the back door and surprise whoever the intruder was.

I ran stealthily to the other side of the house and strode through the back door; I peered around the side and saw a guy dressed in biker gear, with skinny looking legs, and an expensive looking helmet still on his head.

I crept up behind him and wrapped my muscular arm tightly around his neck whilst pressing the barrel of the gun forcefully into his rib-cage.

I heard him give a stifled murmur of shock, or pain; I couldn't quite distinguish what it was, it was muffled through the helmet. I turned the man around and pinned him tightly against the wall with one arm; I tucked the gun away into the back of my jeans and tore the helmet away from the guy's head, curious to see his identity.

However, what I saw before me gave me quite a shock.

Long, curly blonde hair cascaded from the person's helmet and down their back.

During my moment of shock, they took me by surprise, bringing their knee forcefully into contact with my groin before tossing me to the floor and pinning me down.

That's when I realized my error.

The stranger wasn't a guy; it was a girl…

…and she was about to kick my ass…

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**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry it's quite short!**

**Please continue to read, review and follow!**

**:D**


	5. The Meeting

**Caroline's POV**

I knocked on the door furiously; I think it was safe to say that I was not happy.

Niklaus's stupid errand boy who worked on the boat had loaded my bike onto the boat wrong and the minute we hit a wave it fell and now there's a huge scratch all up the side paintwork. A scratch up the side of my custom paint work; nobody messes with me, and no-one messes with my bike!

I banged harder on the door; I needed him to answer so I could vent my anger at someone before I had to deface Niklaus's house. He was going to be paying for the repairs.

I went to knock on the door one last time; I was pretty sure that I was being ignored when someone came up behind me and grabbed me.

A muscular arm snaked around my neck and was cutting off my oxygen supply; beneath my helmet I was gasping for air. I began to struggle to get free when I felt the barrel of a gun being pressed forcefully into my side. I decided to give up struggling and go with it; if it was one thing that John Gilbert taught me during sparring was 'if you're losing, always relax, and save your energy until you have the chance to take the upper hand.' That was something that he had constantly drilled into me, and now I was thankful for that.

I was shoved hard against the wall of Niklaus's house; through the helmet I could see the man before me, I wasn't sure whether it were Niklaus or not as I had never seen him before, I shrugged of the thought and hoped that it wasn't him; if it was, it would be unfortunate because I was going to kill this man, and it would be pretty hard for us to pull off a job with a dead man.

Whilst the man was pressing harder and harder against my windpipe I had all the time in the world to evaluate his appearance; if this man weren't trying to kill me I think I would have been impressed; he had tanned muscular arms, beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous dirty blonde hair. I tucked those thoughts to the back of my mind as my assailant ripped my helmet from my head. My hair fell from my helmet and down my back; I saw the man's eyes widen in shock.

I took this moment as my opportunity. I brought my knee viciously into his groin; I knew many fancy martial arts moves, but one had to admit, that this always worked most efficiently. Now he was both shocked and in pain, I tackled him to the ground and pinned him beneath me.

I used my lower body to pin him down; thanking the gym for helping me bulk up a bit, I then fisted my hands tightly and beat the man repeatedly. I managed to successfully split his lip and I saw the skin around his eyes beginning to bruise already.

I saw that he was about to black out and used the moment to my advantage; I grabbed my knife from my pocket and raised my arm ready to finish him; I lowered the knife ready to end this. That was when he rapidly moved and grabbed my arm, he rolled us over so that I was now on the bottom and he was on top of me, the gravel of the pathway digging into my back and thighs, despite the protective biker gear I was wearing.

The man slapped me across the face several times before lowering his face to my ear.

"How do you like it now the roles are reversed, sweetheart?" He inquired mockingly, his warm breath and stubble tickling my cheek.

"I don't know dick, I was beating you pretty hard, and all you've done is slapped me around the face a couple of times. Seriously, my grandma can probably fight better than you." I spat back, not letting him know the extent of pain I was in.

**Klaus's POV**

That insult stung pretty hard, but I had to admit, I was impressed.

This girl was hot... it was a shame I was going to have to kill her...

I wrapped my hands around her throat and squeezed tightly, suffocating was not my preferred method of killing; but it seemed a shame to scar this girl by cutting into her with a knife.

Whilst choking her I took a chance to admire her body; I glanced towards her abdomen and saw that her shirt had ridden up. I stared intently at the beautiful skin on her stomach and noticed the many indentations and ridges there. I furrowed my brows in confusion; the only way she could have gotten some scarring like that was from some pretty intense torture. I thought back to what Stefan had told me about his friend Caroline Forbes: 'She's never given any information away once captured.'

Oh shit.

I'd strangled my best mate's friend and the woman who was meant to be part of my team on the biggest job of my life.

Good one Mikaelson.

I panicked; I immediately removed my grip from around her neck and cringed when I saw the large finger shaped bruises I had left on her neck. I had cut off so much of her air that she had blacked out; I grabbed her wrist and felt for a pulse... there was one there, but it was very weak. My life saving course from when I was a kid immediately kicked in and I began administering CPR.

After a couple of minutes, she finally came to; but she was very out of it. I lifted her gently into my arms and took her indoors. Due to getting distracted earlier I never got around to clearing up, so I decided that the guest room was not suitable, so my instincts told me to go and lay her down in my room. I slowly ascended the stairs and placed her carefully down. I removed her jacket and her boots to make her more comfortable and pulled the covers gently over here.

Caroline began muttering something incoherent under her breath, finally it became loud enough to hear.

_"I'm sorry mom, I'm sorry, I know you're the Sheriff and I know I did a bad thing... I swear I'll never, ever involve myself in any criminal stuff again I promise, I promise!"_

It became clear to me that in all the stress that she had endured that she was hallucinating. I didn't know what else to do so I climbed into the other side of the bed and attempted to calm her down.

_"What do you mean you're kicking me out; what do you mean I can never see my brother again! Mom please I'm not a bad person, I can change!"_

"Shhhh, Caroline, everything's fine..." I tried to assure her in a soothing voice. Her mutterings were gradually getting louder and louder; I was thankful that I owned my own Island, because if I had neighbors, they would be seriously worried about what was happening right now.

_"I HATE YOU! If you kick me out mom I've got no other choice! How else am I going to survive! I'm going to have to go crawling back to Connor and I'm going to get mixed up in all that stuff again! Then they'll be no hope! "_

"Caroline, you're fine, you're fine..." I puzzled myself; I was cradling a girl in my arms that I barely knew, who had just tried to kill me, and yet I was worried for her. Eventually her talking subsided and she fell asleep. I clambered from the bed and made my way back downstairs; I guess I'd better give the front of my house a quick tidy up after what had gone on between Caroline and me out there.

**Caroline's POV**

I rolled over and woke up, the light was streaming through the blinds and I felt comfortable and relaxed and...

...OUCH...

I climbed out of the bed and made my way over to the wall; I gasped in shock at my appearance, my face was swollen and black and blue, my neck was decorated by a ring of finger shaped bruises. My shoulders were stiff and my knuckles were bleeding.

I stared down at the floor trying to evaluate what had happened since the throw down between me and the attacker, then the man from earlier came strolling into the room carrying a mug of what I'm pretty sure was tea.

I instinctively brought my hands towards my face to protect me and I took a step backwards.

"Easy love, we've had a spat... I'm over it already." He said cheekily as he held out the mug to me.

"Well I'm not; and who the hell are you anyway!?" I asked venomously.

"Ah yes; I'd forgotten that part... I'm Niklaus Mikaelson, it's a pleasure to properly meet you…"

I stared at him in confusion as I took the cup from his hands.

Woah... I did not expect Niklaus Mikaelson to be so...

... Normal?...

* * *

**Hey guys!**

**Thanks for reading; I did a double update... I couldn't resist!**

**Please continue to read, review and follow!**

**See you at the next chapter...**

**:D**


	6. Reaching an understanding

**Caroline's POV**

I sat back down onto the bed and took a sip from the mug; I was surprised to discover it was hot chocolate.

"I didn't have you down as the hot chocolate type of guy." I said with a cheeky glance at Niklaus.

"Love, I'm unpredictable." He replied with a smirk on his face as he threw a wink in my direction.

I looked at the floor in embarrassment as I felt my cheeks begin to redden; ohmygod, why was I acting like such a love-struck teenager. I'd only just met this guy and he'd tried to kill me; somehow though when his piercing blue eyes looked in my direction I got a funny kind of feeling all over.

"Yes... speaking of being unpredictable, what the hell were you thinking when you attempted to beat the shit out of me when I knocked on your door!" I said with a bitter tone to my voice.

Niklaus hung his head in what I was pretty sure was guilt.

"Sorry sweetheart; but I wasn't expecting anyone until tomorrow, and you know what it's like when you're in our line of business, you can't take any chances." He said with an almost sad expression on his face.

I refused to feel sorry for this guy; he'd beaten my face to an absolute pulp, he'd made me look completely disgusting.

"Thanks to you Niklaus, my face looks disgusting."

"Please love, call me Klaus; you look fine sweetheart, and you shouldn't be complaining, you started all the face beating in the first place. If you recall I only tried to strangle you, not deface your beautiful complexion." he replied gushingly, and annoyingly I felt my cheeks color once again.

**Klaus's POV**

Caroline turned as bright as a beetroot after I complimented her; the amount of times she got embarrassed one would have thought she had never been flirted with before. Which of course, she had; there was no way a gorgeous girl like her could hide from the gaze of many hungry and probably horny young men.

I pointed to my face to help illustrate my point; in the past few hours the skin around my eyes had continued to turn an unsightly shade of blue and my split lip was started to look kind of grey and infected.

"Oh and for the record love, I did administer CPR." I said with a cheeky smile, man what a jerk I was; I was seriously trying to justify beating her within an inch of her life.

She rolled her eyes at me and slumped back against my headboard, looking quite at home; man, she looked good in my bed... I immediately regretted that thought; she was a business partner, and nothing could get in the way of that and jeopardize this job.

"You only had to administer CPR because you were responsible for beating the life out of me!" She replied indignantly in a mock angry tone.

"Okay love, how about we call it quits then... why are you here so early anyway?" I inquired curiously.

"Oh basically, Elena and I couldn't travel down here together because we couldn't let anyone know that we were going to the same place. It's because we live in the same town; this little place called Mystic Falls, and if we alerted anyone to the business we were in then things would turn nasty... and I like my life just as it is!" She said cheerily.

"Well, I'm glad you came early, it was definitely worth your while. You and I have gotten to know each other already, practiced our skills on one another and I've had the chance to save your life. Excellent use of both of our time I think." I said suavely, offering her yet another wink.

I'm pretty sure that I heard her whisper 'bullshit' under her voice, and I felt a rumble of a laugh erupt within me; this girl really was something.

"Nice bike you've got parked out the front by the way." I said, hoping a compliment would get me into her good graces, in which I found myself severely wanting to be.

However, my compliment seemed to have the opposite effect to what I was hoping. Her face rapidly began to turn a worrying shade of purple, her eyes widened and her pupils focused intently on me. I figured I'd better bite the bullet and ask her what was wrong before she exploded.

"What's up love?" I inquired, bracing myself for her response.

"That idiot that works on your boat damaged the paintwork on my bike; my favorite bike, it even has custom paintwork. I'm expecting you to pay for the repairs." She said pointedly.

I felt yet another laugh build within me.

"Sweetheart, once we've done this job we're going to have more money than we are ever going to be able to spend; it would be a pleasure to pay for the repairs!"

"Anyway; I'm starving and there's no food in the house, you want to go get some food on the mainland?" I asked.

She rose from the bed and straightened out her clothing before speaking.

"Sure, but you're paying; you still owe me for all the trouble you've caused today. Oh, and I look so damn disgusting I think I need to put a paper bag over my head!" She said, still with a slightly pissed tone to her voice.

"Sure love." I replied simply, not wanting another beating from her anytime soon.

I was pretty sure my face couldn't handle anymore brutality today; I meant that in a very manly way obviously…

* * *

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**Sorry this chapter was a bit of a filler, but don't worry action will be happening again shortly. **

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	7. Diner Disasters

**Klaus's POV**

I decided that it was best if Caroline and I took my speed boat back to the mainland; because I wasn't quite sure what she'd do to my boat hand if she ever came into contact with him again. Actually, I was pretty sure what she would do to him and I knew it wouldn't be pretty. I laughed to myself as I once again thought about what a unique girl she was; nothing like any other girl I'd met in my life, she was beautiful and full of light.

As I thought about her, I looked over at where she was sitting on the boat. She was looking out to sea, the wind blowing her hair this way and that, and her bright blue eyes shining with amazement.

"You know Klaus; I can't believe I never thought to buy myself one of these before!" She shouted in glee, I was glad that my boat impressed her; as it seemed that nothing else had so far.

"Glad you like it love!" I shouted back over the roar of the wind.

**Caroline's POV**

When we finally reached the dock, Klaus securely tied the boat up and held out a hand to help me from the boat. A very gentlemanly act which made him once again rise in my estimation; he really did seem to be a very decent kind of guy.

"Thank you sir." I said sarcastically from the boat as I reached for his outstretched hand.

"My pleasure Miss Forbes." He replied equally as mockingly; things turned a bit awkward though when we held hands for slightly longer than necessary, our eye's locking in a seemingly awkward manner. I quickly tore my hand from his grasp and tried to pretend like nothing had ever happened.

"So, you are officially the tour guide, I haven't learnt much about this place, so tell me... where are we going?" I asked cheekily.

"Well love, seeing as we have no mode of transport other than walking at the moment, it seems that we are going to have to go to the nearest place possible. And that my dear is a diner just down the road..."

"Okay then." I replied and accepted his arm which he had outstretched to me, then arm in arm; we made our way to the diner.

When we reached the place, I read the sign and rolled my eyes in exasperation. We were right back at th place I had started at when I first arrived. I crossed my fingers tightly hoping that the same waiter wasn't there or things could get a little awkward.

"Anything the matter love?" Klaus inquired with an expression of amused concern on his face.

"No, nothing… It's just the fact that I came in here when I first arrived, that's all." I said with a smile.

"So you already know how divine the food is then!" Klaus exclaimed, suddenly looking like a young boy getting excited.

"Actually, no; I just had coffee, and I've got to say, I didn't think much to it." I replied sarcastically; deliberately opposing him, and I was pretty sure he realized that.

"Well darling, it's a good job I've brought you back to this place then…" He said as he tugged me inside.

**Klaus's POV**

I could sense Caroline's reluctance to enter the diner and it puzzled me slightly; I could see no reason why she would have such an aversion to a place where she had only had coffee. I furrowed my brows as my mind reeled with the possibilities; but I tugged her inside anyway. A young-ish man came over to seat us at a table and his eyes lit up as he saw Caroline.

"Ah ma'am; it's wonderful to have you here again so soon, and I see you brought your infamous boyfriend Niklaus with you this time!" The man said enthusiastically.

I took a small step back in shock as the man spoke, and I was pretty sure that my jaw had dropped wide enough to catch flies!

I turned to face Caroline and saw that her face had turned as red as a tomato and her eyes had taken on an extremely wide shape.

"I…um…" She looked at me once or twice before continuing. "I…um..yeah..I…" Then she completely shut down, staring at the floor in obvious humiliation. I couldn't leave the poor girl hanging I decided. I stepped towards her put one arm around her and place a chaste kiss on her lips before turning back to the waiter.

"Yes, she's back; she liked it so much this morning, she even went as far to say as how wonderful her waiter was. It's the first time that Caroline has come down here to visit me on the island and I knew that I just had to bring her back for dinner tonight, otherwise she'd be missing out!" I exclaimed, Caroline stared at me in amazement, probably at the shock of me covering her embarrassment. The waiter nodded simply and led us to a table.

I slid into the booth, and Caroline into the other; her cheeks still flushed a shocking color. I figured it would be best to clear the air and get it over with quickly.

"So love, care to share any information about the bombshell that the server just dropped; I was unaware of our relationship status being that intimate." I said seductively, with a sarcastic smile on my face.

"Don't flatter yourself! The guy was giving me some grief earlier, so I shut him down by mentioning that I had a boyfriend; so… I said it was you!" Caroline justified herself simply. I was pretty proud of her actually; I'm glad that she had told him she was taken rather than having to deal with his advances.

"Well love, that seems like a pretty damn good reason to me, shall we pretend that never happened and order some food."

"Yes please, that would be great!" She said appreciatively and immediately grabbing the menu.

"So what's good here?"

"Anything love." Was all that I responded.

We sat in silence for a moment or so, whilst evaluating what we fancied to eat.

The waiter from earlier strolled over again to take our orders. We both responded accordingly, but I couldn't help but realized how close to Caroline he was; how he leaned down slightly so he was eliminating her personal space. I saw her give him a subtle push away from her under the table, encouraging to get going on her way.

"You alright?" I asked her bluntly.

"Yeah, he's just another guy who doesn't understand the word no; I can deal with it."

"If you say so…" Was all I replied, already eager to go and teach the guy a lesson.

Caroline, obviously finding things slightly uncomfortable, changed the subject.

"So Klaus, would you like to tell me about this job we're doing?" She whispered across the table to me.

I stared at her slightly annoyed, I was pretty uptight about this job, and here she was talking about it in the local diner.

"No can do love; I'm going to brief the whole team tomorrow when they arrive." Was all I replied, letting no emotion leak into my voice, not wanting to show her how concerned I was about it.

"Hmm… Okay 'Mr secret-agent-man'" She replied sarcastically, whilst rolling her eyes at me.

I let out a short laugh whilst finishing up my food.

"So love, I figured it will be getting dark soon and it would be best if we headed straight back to the island after this."

"Sure." Caroline replied. "But I just want to have another look round the area around here; it's really cute and has got amazing views that I don't get to see very often." She said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Sounds good, I'll finish up my meal, pay the bill and meet you outside."

She nodded and rose from her chair, before reaching into her bag to grab her purse, and some money.

"Put it away love, I'm not going to make you pay, this is my treat… let's say compensation for me attacking you earlier" I said justifying myself, knowing that she would be reluctant to let me pay.

"Well, as you put it like that; I guess I can accept those terms…" She replied, throwing me a cheeky wink as she put on her jacket and made her way towards the exit.

**Caroline's POV**

I strolled outside, sat on a nearby bench and took in a big breath of fresh air; there was something about the atmosphere here, it felt so peaceful and amazing. I looked around and thought that if I did get all that money that Klaus promised if this job went well, that I'd find a place like this and settle down. Maybe I'd even open my own motorcycle shop; but a nice little place, it wouldn't be like one of those places that ripped you off; I'd be fair to my customers.

"Well, well, well; it seems you ditched that boyfriend of yours. Good one love, everyone round here knows he's a complete dick." I knew who it was before I'd even turned my head; it was the waiter from earlier. Long gone had the happy and cheery persona, and in was the aggressive and all round asshole attitude. He was one of those guys who thought he was God's gift and that women should just fall at his feet. I'd put up with him for long enough, and I decided it was time for me to teach him a lesson. I flexed my knuckles, stood up and gradually turned towards him.

"What do you want?" I asked; hoping to pull of the act of a frightened, unknowing young woman."

"Well babe, I thought that would be obvious; I want you…" He said in a sleazy fashion as he made his way closer and closer to me.

I waited until he was just in my grasp before I threw a punch to his lower jaw which threw him off balance; I then grabbed his upper-arm, used his weight against him and flipped him over my right shoulder. He landed with a thud on the concrete, writhing in pain and moaning.

"Woah love, you've been busy while I was gone." Klaus said as he came up behind me.

"This dick wouldn't stop harassing me, so I decided it was time I taught him a lesson!" I said furiously.

"Alright love, now that you've assaulted this man, let's leave quickly before things can get messy." He said seriously. I knew what he said was correct, but there was a burning urge within me to go back to the man and kick him while he was down. Prove to him that he couldn't treat women the way he did.

It was almost as if Klaus read my mind:

"Come on sweetheart, you've already proved to him he can't treat people like that. Let's go love, it's getting late…" he said with concern in his voice.

I tugged my jacket closer around my shoulders and followed Klaus back to the boat, still fuming in anger.

**Klaus's POV**

When we arrived back at the house I noticed that Caroline was still not back to her happy and joking self. She was touchy and I was finding myself tip-toeing around her, not wanting to set her off.

As we came through the front door, I realized once again, that I hadn't cleaned up the house, meaning that my guest bedroom was a total dump.

"Sorry love, my guest rooms a dump; so please take my room." I said sincerely.

Caroline argued a little bit; something along the lines of the fact that she didn't need anything fancy, and she didn't care about a bit of mess. But I insisted and in the end she went along with it.

I settled down in the guest room, sorting out the many items that were lying on the bed, when I heard her moving around in my room and muttering something under her breath.

"Anything the matter love?" I shouted down the corridor.

I heard a few more grumps and mumbles, and I was pretty sure I heard her stamp her foot in annoyance.

"I forgot my stupid pajamas!" I heard her shout in annoyance.

"Just borrow some of mine!" I replied.

"Cheers!"

Finally I'd cleared the bed and I pulled back the covers, removed my shirt; when I once again heard disturbance from the other room.

"Ohmygod! Your room is a dump; how am I meant to find anything in here!" She groaned in annoyance.

I opened the guest room door and made my way down the corridor to my room.

I pushed the door open to discover her standing in her underwear in the middle of the room, cursing at the array of stuff.

"Klaus!" She exclaimed in annoyance.

I politely covered my eyes, whilst pointing to the draw that held my shirts and sweatpants.

"There in there love, help yourself." I replied before turning away and making my way back to my room.

I climbed into bed, rolled over and closed my eyes. I knew that I would sleep well, and dream well tonight… and there was no doubt that Caroline would make an appearance…

… I knew I wouldn't be forgetting how extremely beautiful she looked anytime soon…

* * *

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**Slightly longer chapter this time, I hope you enjoyed it.**

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	8. Meet the team

**Caroline's POV**

I'd been so tired after yesterday's events that I'd slept wonderfully, and hadn't woken once in the night. I opened one eye and buried myself deeper into Klaus's bed sheets, they were extremely cozy and warm, and I didn't have any plans of getting up any time soon. Everyone knows that once I, Caroline Forbes, is in bed and comfortable, no-one can get me up.

I heard a soft knock on the door, and could sense Klaus's presence behind the door.

"Feel free to come in, I'm decent!" I shouted sarcastically at him, at least this time he wouldn't catch me in my underwear.

Klaus came strolling in wearing pajama pants and no shirt, with a cheery expression on his face as sat on the edge of the bed.

"Morning love, I hoped you slept well?" he inquired.

"I sure did, slept like the dead; and I must say, your bed is very comfortable..." I replied with a smile on my face.

"Ah well, it's time to get up love; it's getting late..." He said with a serious tone, sounding like my dad.

"Yes Dad." Was all I replied before pulling the covers over my head and ignoring him.

"Come on love, the others will be here soon. You've got to get up eventually." He said persuasively, but it wasn't working. I made a non-committal noise of disagreement, it sounded quite like a grunt, before clinging tighter onto his bed sheets.

"So you want to play it like that then, sweetheart?" Klaus said teasingly.

I wasn't quite sure what Klaus said, but I chose to ignore it, it all went silent for a while; but I knew Klaus was still there.

I then felt the other side of the bed dip, and my legs suddenly felt extremely cold as Klaus tugged away the bed sheets.

I opened my eyes and rolled over to discover Klaus had climbed in beside me and pulled the majority of the covers over himself.

"Hey!" I said attempting to regain some of the sheets.

"Two can play at that game love, if you get to lie in then so do I." he said indignantly.

I gave a sigh of exasperation before agreeing to his terms, after all, this was his house and his bed, and it was definitely big enough to share.

"Okay then, _love." _I replied, imitating his speech. "I guess this bed is big enough to share, now pass me over some covers!" I exclaimed.

**Klaus's POV**

I didn't mean to fall asleep when I climbed into bed with Caroline; I'd meant to just annoy her slightly and make a point. However, we both managed to fall asleep.

When I finally awoke, I imagined that it must have been reasonably late in the afternoon. That was not the first thing I noticed though, the first thing that came to my attention was the fact that Caroline was sprawled over my chest.

Our position was quite comfortable to be honest. I was lying on my back with my hands propped behind my head, and Caroline was molded to my side with her head lying on my chest and her hands splayed on my stomach.

I could feel the rise and fall of her chest and her slight heavy breathing; indicating the fact she was still asleep.

"Well, well, well; Klaus you fast moving bastard, she must have only just arrived and you've already got her in your bed!" Stefan exclaimed from the end of my bed, almost giving me a heart attack. I flinched violently in shock, waking Caroline and causing all round confusion.

"Klaus what's going on?" Caroline mumbled, apparently still unaware to the fact that Stefan had joined us.

"Stefan has graced us with his presence sweetheart." Was all that I mumbled in reply.

Caroline sat upright beside me with a horrified expression adorning her face…

"Stef, I promise you that this isn't what it looks like… please, please, please don't tell Elena!" Was all that Caroline exclaimed. I thought that I should be offended by Caroline's aversion to being caught with me, even though we'd done nothing, but somehow I was only amused by her… and slightly turned on… even though she had just woken up, she looked amazing.

"Don't tell Elena what?!" A voice exclaimed as another person walked into the room. She was tall and skinny with long dark hair and dark brown eyes.

"What is this, everyone have a meeting in Klaus's room?!" I said sarcastically, it was true though; Caroline, Stefan, myself and this girl that I assumed to be Elena were all crammed into my bedroom.

I however, did not get a reply to my comment, which I thought to be very witty.

"Care, what the hell are you doing in bed with Klaus!" The girl exclaimed in horror.

"Elena, chill out, we've just been sleeping…" Caroline replied attempting to soothe the girl. She then pulled back the covers and climbed out of bed to reveal the fact that she was still wearing her pajama's.

"See, I'm wearing clothes and there's nothing to worry about!" She said persuasively.

Elena nodded, still slightly unconvinced.

Caroline shook her head in annoyance before looking over at me.

"Niklaus, get out of bed and show Elena that you're wearing clothes!" She ordered me.

I felt a bubble of both annoyance and amusement rise within me.

"Love, I do not like being told what to do…" I said sincerely, but then I saw her face fall... "However, for you I shall make an exception."

I climbed out of bed and proved that I had pants on; I even did a sarcastic little dance to show them how ridiculous I thought they were.

Elena nodded and didn't speak. I decided that I needed to take control of the situation.

"Right, shall we all go downstairs and get ourselves something to eat and drink. I'm starving, and it would be a pleasure to fix you all some breakfast for all of you before we talk business."

Stefan, Elena and Caroline all nodded in unison and we descended the stairs and made our way into the kitchen; there sat at my kitchen table were three other people, I assumed them to be Stefan's over associates: Jeremy, Bonnie and Matt. I nodded a greeting at them before grabbing my shirt from the back of one of the chairs and pulling it over my hair.

Much to my surprise, I discovered that Caroline was already acquainted with them. She went bounding up to Bonnie and grabbed her into a big hug, she gave a friendly nod towards Jeremy, and finally she let out a sound of happiness before launching herself into Matt's arms, giving him a kiss on the cheek and wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Matt! I haven't seen you in ages!" She exclaimed with an expression of pure delight on her face. I felt a flash of jealously ripple through my body. Envious at the fact that Caroline and this Matt guy obviously were very friendly; too friendly for my liking.

"Klaus, this is Bonnie my friend from high school, Jeremy, Elena's little brother and finally, this is Matt my old boyfriend from High School!" She informed me, still glowing in pleasure.

"Nice to meet you all." I said quietly, not really meaning it; well not really meaning it towards Matt anyway. I'm sure he was a nice guy really, but his connection to Caroline immediately made me dislike him.

I went to the cupboard to receive some of the goods I'd bought quickly before we left the mainland yesterday. They consisted of bread, eggs, chocolate spread (a secret favorite of mine) and peanut butter.

"This ladies and gentlemen, is the array of delights I have on offer for you. Please help yourself to whatever you want, anyone want a cup of tea or coffee or something, maybe even some Bourbon?" I inquired, trying to distract myself from the fact that Caroline was now sitting (and looking extremely comfortable may I add!) on Matts lap at the table. The sight put me off the thought of food.

I made some drinks for everyone who required one, before excusing myself to go and get changed.

I stomped up the stairs and into the bathroom, turned the shower up nice and hot before climbing under. The water felt blissful on my hair and skin and I felt myself relax. I told myself how stupid I'd been to get all worked up over the Caroline situation, after-all I'd only just met her, and I barely even knew the girl. But there was something about her, something that drew me to her; since my brother's death I'd never found myself distracted by a girl. I'd never met anyone that I'd ever really been interested in either; so what was so special about this Caroline Forbes, I didn't know… But I was determined to find out…

Once I'd dried and dressed, I retrieved the plans from the safe in my room and made my way back down to the kitchen.

Elena had kindly washed up and tidied away everything that they had used, and I'm pretty sure my kitchen was cleaner than it had been before they arrived.

I pulled out a chair at the table and sat down, before spreading the plans out on the table before me; I saw everyone's inquisitive expressions as they drew closer to me and silence fell.

I cleared my throat before speaking…

"Right everyone; now that you're all here, it's time to talk business..."

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	9. The Plan

**Klaus's POV**

Everyone around the table was staring at me as if I were a complete and utter fool, Caroline's face looked like she wanted to slap me round the face; and Stefan just looked down right disappointed in me.

"You have got to be kidding me, what kind of dick drags me half way around the country for a shitty job like that. You promised us something amazing and this job is not that!" Matt shouted venomously at me.

"Yeah, no offence mate but you have a reputation for being a bad-ass criminal, and then you go and pitch some shitty mission like that to us. I'm telling you right now, I'm out." Jeremy also responded negatively, but more politely than Matt.

**Caroline's POV**

I was downright shocked by Klaus's proposal, it was meant to be some huge heist, something that neither of us would ever be able to match in our entire lives. Something that was meant to be our last mission before we took our money and left for good. It seemed Niklaus had manipulated all of us; even his best mate Stefan, I suppose if he had told us that it was just going to be a basic and boring robbery then half of us wouldn't have shown up.

Even though I was pretty pissed at him for making me come all this way for nothing, I did feel a slight pang of sympathy for him; after-all Mason Lockwood had been involved in the killing of his brother so therefore he would obviously want to get some kind of revenge. Unfortunately, his only revenge idea was to rob the man.

"NO, no, no... None of you are listening properly. Mason Lockwood's money is his LIFE! If we take his money he will be nothing, we will bring him to his knees without having to shed a drop of blood. This is the perfect job; we'll be in, out, get the money and start new lives far, far away from here." Klaus said persuasively, letting some desperation seep into his tone.

I looked at him once more before making up my decision; this man really had been kind to me and even though I owed him nothing I knew that this was a chance in my life to help someone.

"I'm in..." I said simply. I saw Klaus turn to me and his eyes lighting up with hope. I smiled sadly at him.

"That doesn't mean I've forgiven you for lying though!" I told him sternly. He nodded in response before looking back at the others.

I saw Elena fidgeting opposite me, blatantly trying to make up her mind. She rolled her eyes in annoyance, before sighing and making her way to stand next to me.

"Care, you're my best friend, and we haven't done a job together in a long, long time, so if you're in, then so am I." She smiled at me and gave me a jokey punch on the arm, from the corner of my eye I saw Klaus's smile grow bigger.

Matt was next to buckle under the rapidly growing tension in the room.

"Klaus, I think you're a bit of an asshole, but this seems easy enough and I don't trust you with Care. So count me in too..." He reluctantly came to join us.

"Niklaus, you're my best friend, so obviously I'm in..." Stefan replied next, before giving Klaus an exasperated look.

Bonnie didn't say a word; she just nodded her head in agreement and flashed a sneaky smile before coming to join us.

"I'm pretty short on money, even a small-time job like this will be worth it..." Bonnie said simply.

Jeremy shook his head, and looked pissed. He stared at his sister for a while and shook his head once more.

"Elena, please don't do this... it's not worth associating yourself with Niklaus Mikaelson for a small time job like this. You're going to get into a whole load of shit if you get caught with this dude." Jeremy said bluntly.

"I'm sorry Jer, but I didn't come all the way down here for nothing..." Elena said sadly.

"All right, I respect your decision. But I can't do this job with you Niklaus, it's just not worth the risk, I hope you understand...But if the job goes to shit and you need some help, you know who to call."

Niklaus nodded as if he understood Jeremy's decision.

Jeremy picked up his stuff and made his way towards the door.

"Oh and Stefan, make sure you look after my sister..." Jeremy said, quickly glancing back and then leaving before he could change his mind.

"Well know that that is sorted, shall we get back to the details?" Klaus said bluntly, eager to get the job started.

**Klaus's POV**

"So basically all we're doing is robbing Mason Lockwood of every single penny he has, but it isn't going to be that simple. Firstly, he's one of the richest men in New York; he's got maximum security at his house. He rarely leaves his house; he controls his whole cartel from the sofa in his study… the lazy bastard…"

Everyone around me was nodding in understanding; I'm pretty sure they've all done a robbery with similar situations.

"We need to put surveillance on his house, identify his movement patterns, create a way to distract his security, wait until he goes out, and break in. From then on, everyone knows the drill…Feel free to jump in if you have ideas…" I said hopefully, because so far I'd only come up with blanks.

I saw that Stefan was eager to speak.

"Go ahead Stefan…" I nodded at him.

"Well, as you know I'm good with technology, if we can get to the surveillance box at Mason's security gate then I can tap in and we will have access to the whole feed. That way we can work out his movement patterns." Stefan said logically.

Bonnie was next to jump in.

"I'm pretty good with all those herbal remedies and medications; I was training to be a nurse before I got into this business. I can find a way to knock out those guards so they will be in an almost dream state, so when they awake they will have no idea they've been knocked out and therefore no reasons to be suspicious." I processed what Bonnie said and felt a smile creep across my features.

"Bonnie Bennett, you really are full of surprises; I had no idea that your talents would be so… devious…" I said with a smirk, grateful that she had agreed to do the job; she would definitely be an asset.

"I imagine that Mason will keep all of that money he owns in a safe; and it just so happens that I'm a master at cracking safe's… so I'm guessing that's my job!" Elena said with a laugh.

I nodded again in agreement, it seemed Stefan really had compiled the perfect team; they all had skills that would help run this operation smoothly.

Matt looked awkwardly down at the floor, seeming very uncomfortable…

"I think I need to leave; I have nothing to contribute to this job..." Matt said, blatantly embarrassed.

I processed his words for a moment or two before coming up with a solution.

"You mate, will have a very important role in this job!" I said bluntly.

"Oh yeah, and what would that be?" He asked curiously.

"Well, who else is going to make sure that Caroline's safe and secure when she's out on her own…" I said quietly. I looked over at Caroline and saw that her face had turned an infuriated color, and her eyes were wide, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Niklaus Mikaelson, you'd better not be thinking what I think you're thinking…" She exclaimed darkly. Now it was my turn to look embarrassed.

"Sorry love, but someone's got to be the distraction and Elena and Bonnie are going to be too busy to play the part!" I explained to her.

"Well what are you going to do?" She shouted at me…

"I'm obviously driving the get-away car love; have you never played grand-theft-auto, it's a key part of the job."

She looked even more infuriated.

"I could drive the get-away-car, probably better than you though!" She replied indignantly.

"That may be true sweetheart, but something tells me I couldn't play the distraction as well as you; something tells me that Mason Lockwood would prefer a beautiful blonde like you, compared to a guy like me; unless there's something he's not telling us…" Klaus said with a sly grin on his face; knowing already that he had won the argument.

She gave a sigh of annoyance, and even stamped her foot; I smirked as she turned her back to me. I knew she was good, and she knew she was good; but on this occasion she just had to sit out on the action for once, and play the distraction.

Matt looked back and forth between the two of us before speaking.

"So I'm going to be tailing Care to make sure that things with Mason don't get out of hand?" He said, feeling a lot more comfortable with his job; it was obvious that he still had feelings for Caroline, and therefore felt that any job involved with protecting her was worth his time.

"Yes mate, that's exactly it…" I replied, whilst I heard Caroline stomping around upstairs.

Elena looked over sympathetically at me.

"Sorry, Caroline likes to be in the fight, not on the sidelines; and she hates it even more to lose an argument." Elena said matter-of-factly.

I laughed drily at her comment.

"Believe me love; I know… how else do you think I got this split lip." I stated, whilst laughing; not too loudly of course, I didn't want to aggravate Caroline any further.

Elena and Bonnie's mouths formed into a wide 'O' and Stefan and Matt chuckled.

"Predictable Caroline…" Was all that Stefan said.

"Anyway, I've got three guest rooms upstairs, two double rooms and one single room; they're in a reasonable condition, well… they'll do for tonight, and we start the job first thing tomorrow…" I said dismissing them.

I watched as they all dashed up the stairs, no doubt eager to get the double beds. I sighed and collapsed down on the couch in the living room, before flicking on some mindless TV to try and distract myself.

After about five minutes or so, I heard footsteps down the stairs and saw a head peek through the door; it was Caroline, and she was looking in a much better mood.

**Caroline's POV**

I peered through the doorway and Klaus gestured for me to come and join him.

"Alright love, I'm just watching some reality show." He stated; blatantly not watching the TV, his mind probably thinking of the many possible things that could go wrong tomorrow.

"Keeping up with the Kardashians, huh? Didn't really have that down as your kind of show." I replied with a laugh.

He smirked at me but didn't reply.

"I think I'm going to bed love; as much as I have tried, I don't think anything can distract me from the job. Therefore I think sleep is the only problem."

"Okay; I'm going to stay down here for a while, see you in the morning." I replied.

"Ok sweetheart, remember to lock up before calling it a night, yeah?" he smiled before making his way upstairs and into his room.

I flicked through some of the TV channels, I found myself watching some rom-coms; sometimes I wished that life was really like that. I hadn't had a boyfriend since Matt, not that I would let him know that obviously. One day, I thought that I'd quite like to settle down and have a family; but I knew that in this line of business that wouldn't be anytime soon.

I turned off the TV, not wanting to depress myself any further than I already had; who was I kidding, romantic movies were a load of shit, no guy ever swept a woman off her feet like that anymore. I got up and threw the remote onto the couch, before locking the back and front door and making my way upstairs to bed.

I opened the first door and discovered it to be the single room; I tip-toed in a bit further to discover Bonnie's sleeping figure on the bed. I turned and left, closing the door quietly behind myself.

Next, I opened the next door, and saw two figures sleeping in the double bed… blatantly they were Stefan and Elena – typical, I knew those two were back together.

Finally, I opened the last door and saw Matt sleeping in the double bed.

Ah… there seemed to be a problem with the sleeping arrangements…

**Klaus's POV**

I was still lying awake, and I just couldn't seem to sleep; I knew that it was due to the adrenaline that was rushing through my blood stream at the thought of tomorrow.

That's when I heard a creek of one of the floorboards and sat up in bed, ready to defend myself against an intruder. I debated whether to turn on the light, and I decided that yes, I would…

I flicked it on to discover Caroline standing and looking very miserable at the end of my bed.

"What's the matter love?" I asked concerned.

"Well, there's been an unfortunate problem with the sleeping arrangements. Bonnie's in the single room, Stefan and Elena in one of the double rooms and Matt in the other." She said exasperated.

It took me a while to realize the problem, and when I did, I couldn't help but smirk.

"I see love, you can't get in bed with Matt, because even though you're friends, you don't want to give him the wrong idea – am I right?" I said smugly.

"Yes, yes you are…" she replied.

"So sweetheart, I guess you're here to get in bed with me…" I replied cheekily, throwing her a wink.

She frowned back at me, with one hand placed on her hip.

"Get in love, I promise to be the perfect gentleman." I said persuasively as I pulled back the covers.

She placed her things on the floor beside my bed and clambered in; fortunately she had already changed into her pajamas.

"Night Klaus…" She said sleepily.

"Night sweetheart." Was all I replied; knowing that now she was in my bed, my trouble sleeping was about to get even worse.

I know that I'd promised her I'd be 'the perfect gentleman', but it seemed my brain didn't seem to understand that. No matter how hard I tried she just kept popping up in my thoughts.

Oh well, I decided that it was a damn good job she couldn't read my thoughts; or she would have put a large distance between us a long…long… time ago…

* * *

**Hey!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter… I'm sorry if you don't like how I portrayed Matt, but I figured there needed to be some kind of challenge for Caroline's affections. **

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**See you at the next chapter! **


	10. The Morning Before

**Caroline's POV**

I woke up reasonably early and turned over to see Klaus's still and very asleep figure. I stared at him for a moment or two, taking in the peaceful and unguarded expression on his face; one that no-one ever got to see when he was awake.

I gently pushed back the covers and got out, making sure that I didn't wake him; I knew that it had taken a long, long time for him to get to sleep last night, and I didn't want to disturb him. The next few days he needed to be on top form, and waking him up at god-only-knows what time in the morning would not achieve that. I pulled on a hoodie and some slippers and tip-toed down the stairs to the kitchen.

Opening the door, I saw Stefan seated at the table, thoughtfully sipping from a mug of what I thought to be tea.

"Ohmygod, Stef, you nearly gave me a heart-attack! What are you doing up so early!" I shouted in a loud whisper.

"Well Care, I could ask you the same thing!" He said in reply, rolling his eyes at my dramatics.

I frowned at him and put my hands on my hips, clearly showing him I was not pleased with his sarcasm.

"I asked first..."

Stefan pulled out a chair for me and got up to make me a drink before speaking. I gratefully sat in the chair and accepted the mug.

"I've been up for a couple of hours already; I had to go and get a surveillance van and check that all my equipment was in order." I nodded in understanding at him; it was obvious that he wanted everything to run as smoothly and as perfectly as possible.

"Where did you get the van from then?" I inquired curiously.

"...A man never reveals his sources, not even to one of his best friends..." Stefan replied with a wink.

"Ugh... so how did you sleep last night; very well I imagine, considering Elena was right there next to you!" I accused him mockingly.

He turned slightly red and dropped his gaze to the floor...

"Yeah, um... things were good..." Was all he replied, blatantly embarrassed by my insinuation.

"So I'm guessing you forgave her for everything that went down between her and Damon then?"

"Yeah, I did Care. Because I love her, and I should have realized that before I went away to do that job in Russia, with me gone it was natural for her to turn to Damon for support. When I came back things weren't the same, I'm sure she's already told you this. She was with Damon, but then things began growing between us again, and she came to me to say that she'd made such a big mistake whilst I were away and was there a possibility that we could start again. I was hurt by what had happened, so I told her no. In response to that she severed all communication to Damon to prove to me that nothing like that would happen again; so I told her I loved her, and now I'm pretty sure we're back together...and for good hopefully..." I saw the way that Stefan's eyes lit up as he spoke about her; the whole 'Damon and Stefan' debate had gone on for a long time, but I always knew and hoped that she'd pick Stefan, and in my mind she had definitely made the right decision.

I didn't feel that it was necessary to comment, so I just nodded whilst taking another sip from my mug.

"But what about you and Klaus huh? If you think I didn't hear you creep into his room, then you are mistaken." He said with a cheeky smile.

Now it was my turn to look embarrassed.

"Uh yeah, about that... there was a problem with the sleeping arrangements; it left me with the choice of sleeping with Matt or Niklaus. I chose Klaus because I just can't keep leading Matt on; he seems to think that we're going to get back together. And I know that things could have turned very awkward if I'd gotten in bed with him." I stated matter-of-factly.

"Did things get awkward with Klaus?" Stefan inquired with one eyebrow raised.

"No, they didn't we both just slept; and when I awoke he was still asleep so we had no awkward morning confrontation either!" I insisted.

"Okay, if you say so…" Stefan replied, not quite convinced.

**Klaus's POV**

Once again, when I had finally woken up, showered, dressed and made my way downstairs it seemed that everyone had already beaten me to it, and were deep in conversation around the table.

"Morning Klaus! Do you want a drink?" Caroline inquired cheerily from the kitchen, I felt my face breaking into a smile, there was something about her that just made me happy. I knew that I would never ever get tired of seeing that girls beautiful face.

"Yes please love, that would be great." I replied before making my way to the table and sitting down.

"So Klaus, I've already got the surveillance van, what's our action plan for today…" Stefan asked enthusiastically, it was obvious that the anticipation of the day was already getting to him.

"So Bonnie is going to make her way up to the guard post outside his house, she's going to use some of her clever concoctions to put the guards to sleep temporarily. Then the rest of us will be in the back of the van which will be disguised with a security company logo, so if Mason happens to look out of one of his windows he will assume that it is just a regular alarm check. Meanwhile Stefan will be in the Guard post hacking the camera feed and planting an unnoticeable chip that will give us access to his security Camera's. From this, for the next two days we will be following Mason to discover his movement patterns and then we shall make our move. Does that sound good to everyone?" I asked nervously, worried if there were any flaws to my plan.

Everyone nodded in unison, apparently happy with today's plan.

"Okay, ten minutes everyone and then we will get going…"

* * *

**Hey! **

**Sorry this is a short filler kind of chapter, with lack of Klaroline scenes, the next one will have more action! – And sorry to any of you who are Delena fans! **

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	11. Tempting the Devil

**Klaus's POV**

Everyone re-convened back at the table ten minutes later with all equipment and clothing needed to make the next few days a success.

"You know if we're sitting in the back of that van all day it better be comfortable..." Moaned Caroline as she finished tying up her ponytail.

"I wouldn't worry about that love; you're not going to be sitting in that van like the rest of us." I said, grinning secretly at her.

"What do you mean?" She inquired.

"Well love, we're going to be watching Mason's movement patterns around his home, you on the other hand are going to be tailing him by bike if he leaves. You'll have a communication device in your ear and you can feed back to us everything that occurs... does that sound good to you?" I informed her with a smug grin, knowing that Caroline would very much enjoy today.

Her face broke out into a giant smile.

"I knew it was worth putting on my bike leathers!" She exclaimed happily.

My eyes drifted to her figure, as I very obviously looked her up and down, before muttering under my breath:

"Yes, it was definitely worth it..." I felt something make contact with my head as I spoke; it was Matt throwing some ridiculous object at me.

"Hey, stop looking at her like she's food; it's disgusting!" He exclaimed.

"Sorry, mate..." Was all I muttered, my eyes still fixated on Caroline's figure... I wasn't sorry at all.

**Caroline's POV**

I was so pleased with the news; I went to the cupboard and retrieved my helmet, and rifled around for my keys, but just couldn't seem to find them...

"Klaus, have you seen my keys?" I inquired, worried.

"Oh yeah, sorry sweetheart, I forgot to tell you I had to get a copy made. It was part of the arrangement I made with the garage, they fixed up your bike yesterday and it was on its way I to New York last night." Klaus said warily, unsure how I would react.

I felt a bubble of excitement building within me, and I, being Caroline Forbes, couldn't contain it. I ran over to him and embraced him in a huge hug, whilst squealing with happiness at the same time.

"You already got my bike fixed for me! And you got it transported to New York so I can use it when doing surveillance tomorrow rather than borrowing one...Ohmygod, you're an absolute genius!" She exclaimed and planted a huge kiss on my cheek.

"Woah, if I'd known you'd be this happy I would have let you know when we we're together last night... if you get what I mean..." I replied cheekily.

She gave me a reasonably hard punch on the arm; however she brushed off my sarcastic comment as she was too happy to let anything get her down.

"Okay guys, break it up... we need to get going!" Bonnie exclaimed from the opposite side of the room.

"Yeah come on..." Elena pitched in.

I pulled away from Klaus and everyone picked up their belongings, we made our way out of the door, and onto his driveway.

I looked at the sight before me and I was pretty sure my heart skipped a beat; after finding out about my bike I didn't think that things could get any better... Until I saw the helicopter before me.

"Shit" Matt exclaimed in shock. "I've always wanted to go in a helicopter!" he said delighted, like a little boy.

Elena, Bonnie and I had an equally as amazed expression on our face. Whereas, Klaus and Stefan just stood there smirking at us.

"How the hell did you get this here without us hearing or noticing?" I inquired.

"The helicopter and the pilot have been here since the early hours of this morning; you lot were all just too busy snoring to notice." Stefan explained smugly; I realized that was another reason he'd been up so early this morning.

I shook my head in disbelief; man, there'd already been so many surprises today and the job hadn't even properly started.

"Well I don't know about you lot, but I'm going to get on that helicopter rather than just stand here and stare all day..." Klaus said sarcastically as he made his way over, we all shot him a bitter look, but followed him anyway.

We dumped our belongings into the luggage space below the floor, and then one by one we climbed in and strapped ourselves down, then put on our headphones to block out the noise and made sure we could still communicate through the microphone.

"Okay everyone, I hope you're strapped in nice and tight; because it's nice and windy out, so be prepared for a bumpy ride." The pilot said through the microphone.

I shot Elena and Bonnie a slightly worried look, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins overtook any fear that I may have had.

I'd always wanted to ride in one of these; and I could really say that Klaus Mikaelson had made my dream come true...

**Klaus's POV**

When we touched down on the helicopter pad in New York City I found myself laughing at the fact that Elena, Bonnie and Caroline had all managed to drift off to sleep during that extremely bumpy ride. I leant over towards Caroline and gave her a tap on the knee, gently waking her. She opened one eye and peered out the window, her face lit up at the sight she saw. The Heli-pad was on the top of one of the many sky-scrapers and we could see the city sprawling below us.

We all removed our headphones and said our thanks to the Pilot before exiting the helicopter.

I was last to leave and I had a quick word with him before getting out.

"Thanks for the lift mate; I'll call you when we're ready for pick-up." I said gratefully.

He nodded in understanding at me, before starting to flick back on the engines; I thought I'd better get out quick before I ended up making the journey back to North Carolina.

I stepped out and all of us watched the helicopter depart from the roof.

"So what's the plan now Niklaus?" Stefan inquired.

"Now mate, we ditch our un-needed stuff at the apartment I rented; and set straight to work." I informed him.

Everyone still pumped from the Helicopter ride nodded enthusiastically and followed me to the roof exit.

Not long now I thought to myself, not long now until I would have to restrain myself from killing Mason Lockwood the minute I set eyes on him.

**Caroline's POV**

We were all sprawled out on the couches in the apartment, after putting our stuff in the relevant rooms; luckily this time, the apartment had so many rooms I actually had one of my own.

Elena, Bonnie, Matt and I were watching some action movie on TV and laughing our heads of at the unrealistic events that it portrayed. Currently, some people were trying to break into a bank with a plan that, in the real world, would never work. I also found it hilarious how disgusting and mean they always made the criminals out to be; in the real world we were just normal people. I was a criminal yet I was nothing like they painted us to be. We weren't dodgy, or common, or blatantly just disgusting human beings; we were just average people who were smart enough to be professional criminals. If we wanted to have normal jobs then we could easy-peasy; we weren't in the business because we couldn't do anything else or because we were desperate, we were here for the challenge, for the adrenaline rush every time we did a job, and for the sheer sense of achievement we felt when outsmarting the cops. I may have been forced into this business when I was younger, but I'd had many opportunities to get out of this life; but I'd never wanted to… well until now. And that was why I was here, to pull of this last job to kiss this life goodbye and get away. I'd had a good life in this business, and I was pretty sure I'd made more money than anyone ever did in their life time in an honest job. I wasn't going to feel guilty though, I only thieved and conned those who needed to be taken down a peg; people who were really villainous and needed to be taught a lesson. I liked to think of myself as a kind of Robin Hood; except I didn't give the riches I gained to the poor, I kept them for myself… Well, aside from the money I gave to charity each month!

I couldn't concentrate on the movie, I was too excited waiting for Klaus to return with my bike – he insisted that he had to be the one to go and get it; apparently he didn't want me getting messed up in any of his dealings. Stefan had gone with him too, to get the surveillance van that he had been promised. I imagined that I should be grateful that they went and did it; I could imagine the kind of people that Klaus did dealings with…

That's when I heard a knock at the door and jumped to attention; yes, they were back!

I pulled open the door and came face to face with Niklaus…

"Woah, calm down love, I haven't done anything to your bike; it's in perfect condition." He said sincerely. He was right to be defensive, as I had grilled him earlier about his driving capabilities; not quite trusting him with my most prized possession.

I rolled my eyes at him before snatching the keys excitedly from his outstretched hand; however, I didn't forget my manners and remembered to politely say thank you, I even gave him a hug for good measure.

"You're very welcome love." He replied as he made his way into the apartment.

"Stefan's not back yet?" Elena stated worriedly.

Klaus looked at her guiltily before answering.

"Yes, about that… we ran into a bit of trouble down and the yard; Stefan's just clearing up and he'll be right back here. Don't you worry…" Klaus said honestly.

I saw Elena's complexion pale considerably.

"I swear to god if anything happens to him, I'll –"She began, but Klaus cut her off…

"No need for threats, we need to trust one another; and I promise you Stefan will be back, and he will be back in one piece." Klaus's reply was so sincere that no-one in the room dared to doubt him.

**Klaus's POV**

Elena must have accepted my sincere response and dropped the subject.

I smiled at Caroline before making my way over to Bonnie who was playing around with some drugs at the table.

"What delights are you making here then?" I asked curiously; I always admired people with strong brains for science.

"I'm just ensuring that I've gotten the concentration of my solutions correct; I don't want those guards waking up whilst Stefan's doing his 'thing'." Bonnie replied with a laugh.

"Sounds good to me, just keep doing what you're doing." I replied with a wink, before getting up and getting a drink from the kitchen.

After what felt like an age, there finally was a knock on the door, and this time it was Elena's turn to jump up in anticipation. She threw open the door as equally hard as Caroline and flung herself on Stefan who was waiting unknowingly on the other side.

"Ohmygod, you're okay; I was so worried!" She cupped Stefan's face in her hands and examined the newest bruises he had just gained, she ran her hands gently over his face and pressed her lips to the blemishes.

In unison Matt, Bonnie, Caroline and I all realized that it was time to look away from this tender moment between the two. We all made our way into the other room and gave them some privacy.

**Caroline's POV**

A moment or two later they joined us in the other room and we all gave each other a solemn look; knowing that the next time we walked out of that door, fate would be playing a huge part in the next 24 hours or so.

"So, are we going to sit down here staring at each other all day, or are we going to do something?" Matt asked sarcastically, rising from his chair and picking up some supplies; mainly food, drink and a gun. I rolled my eyes at him; hoping that he wouldn't need to use that considering that today was meant to be the easy day, just surveillance and no confrontation.

Everyone nodded and followed suit.

Out in the parking lot I saw my bike about 25m away from me; I gave a squeal of delight and ran over to it, running my hands over its recently re-polished and painted surface. It felt heavenly.

"Easy Caroline, Please don't start making out with your bike in public." Stefan said mockingly.

I shot him the finger, before putting my earpiece into my ear and pulling my helmet onto my head.

"Alright love, Stefan's going to install the device and then we'll talk to you over the communication device if he starts moving, okay?" Klaus checked with me.

I nodded in response and watched as the others followed my example and also inserted their communication device into their ears.

"Stay safe Care." Matt said worriedly as he climbed into the back of the van.

"Yeah, don't go too crazy on that bike; we know what you're like!" Elena laughed as she followed Bonnie, Stefan and Matt into the van.

Klaus was last to go, he just gave me a simple nod before getting into the passenger seat.

I waved at them and swung my leg over my bike; glad to be back on it, it was shocking how I'd only been away from it for two days but missed it like crazy.

**Elena's POV**

Everything had run smoothly, almost too smoothly; Bonnie had successfully rendered the guards unconscious, Stefan had hacked the cameras and we had now been sitting in this van for at least three hours.

Klaus was right about Mason being a lazy bastard; since we'd been here he'd only gotten off the couch once and that was too get something to eat.

That was when he put a jacket on, picked up some keys and made his way to the front door.

All of us jumped to attention and informed Caroline that she'd be having a target to tail soon. She was parked about a mile down the road and must have been bored as hell. Actually, let me re-phrase that, we knew she was as bored as hell considering she had been telling us crappy cracker jokes for the past hour.

"YES! Finally I have something to do!" She exclaimed.

**Caroline's POV**

I started up the engine about twenty seconds after Mason's car passed me, I then followed him keeping at least 30 meters or so between us.

"Don't let him realize you're following him Caroline." I heard Klaus's voice down the ear piece.

I rolled my eyes in irritation before continuing.

"Yes sir, I have followed someone before, dumbass." Was all I replied, showing him that I didn't appreciate being thought of as an idiot. He must have sensed my annoyance because he promptly apologized.

Mason reached a dodgy suburb on the edge of the city; he parked and made his way into a dingy looking house carrying a small sized package. I frowned in confusion and continued to follow him; he did this at least six times.

I informed the others, explaining how he kept going to houses and dropping off packages.

It wasn't until I explained to the others that I realized what was going on.

"Ohmygod, he's dropping off drug packages to his couriers." I exclaimed, glad that I'd worked out what was going on.

Klaus made a grunt of agreement.

"I'm surprised that he makes the drop himself." I said thoughtfully.

"Mason Lockwood trusts no-one other than himself…" Stefan said, his voice coming clearly through the ear piece.

I blocked out the others chatter as Mason pulled up outside a dodgy looking biker bar and made his way in. I cut my engine, and debated whether to follow him inside.

"Guys, he's just made his way into a dodgy looking bar…" I said simply.

"Care, don't you dare follow him!" Matt exclaimed.

"Caroline, don't you dare follow him in!" Klaus said agreeing with Matt.

I debated my options, before coming to a decision.

"I've got to be the distraction, and I can't be that unless I actually meet him!" I said matter-of-factly.

"Caroline Forbes, don't you dare follow him in without back-up!" I heard Elena scream down the ear piece.

"He's dangerous Caroline!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Sorry guys, but I've already made up my mind."

I pulled my helmet from my head and pulled out my ear piece, putting it into the compartment underneath my seat. I then pulled my hair from its pony tail and fluffed it up in an attempt to look appealing. I then pinched my cheeks and smoothed down my appearance, unzipping my biker jacket to reveal my reasonably low cut top. I then composed myself and made my way into the bar.

**Klaus's POV**

I felt my heartbeat quicken as Caroline made her decision.

"Caroline…Caroline come in!" I screamed.

"Care, please answer!" Matt followed my example.

"She must have taken out her ear piece." Stefan said simply.

I felt fury build within me, how dare she defy me; did she have any idea what kind of dangerous and crazy bastard she was trying to tempt with absolutely no back-up.

I pulled my communication device from my ear and chucked it against the wall in anger; I wasn't just angry, I was worried… worried for her safety.

Bonnie tried to reason with me.

"Caroline is sensible, she knows what she's doing and she knows how to handle herself; don't you remember… she beat the shit out of you, and she'll do that to anyone who messes with her…"

**Caroline's POV**

I heard many wolf-whistles as I strolled up to the bar; I stared around and discovered that I was in a male dominated area.

I flicked my hair over my shoulder, climbed onto a bar stool and ordered myself a beer; deliberately looking away from where Mason Lockwood was sitting and flirting with anyone other than him. If I knew anything about the Lockwood family, it is the fact that they just love a challenge. I was hoping like crazy that Mason was going to take the bait.

I didn't consider myself to be very successful at seduction; I never really had any time for a relationship or even friends with benefits… I was always too worried about avoiding the authorities.

As I drained my glass, and found myself giving up all hope, a man came strolling up beside me… and that man just happened to be Mason Lockwood.

"Alright gorgeous; can I buy you another beer…" He asked in an arrogant manner.

This was the time I was either going to be successful, or I was going to ruin the plan completely. I chose to go with my instincts.

I completely ignored him, paid the money to the bar-tender, and made my way outside and towards my bike. Behind me I could hear much jeering and mocking laughter, and then a voice behind me…

"Hey you, wait... wait!"

I turned to discover Mason Lockwood following me out.

"Woah, that's a nice bike; yours?" I rolled my eyes at him before nodding.

"What you think a girl can't own a bike like this?" I said with a brusque tone.

Mason Lockwood smirked and admired the bike… and me…

"I like a girl who's feisty; give me a chance babe… come out with me tomorrow night; I'd love to show you my bike collection." He said with a disgusting wink; I couldn't help but compare it to the one that Klaus so often threw at me. When Klaus did it, it gave me this lovely warm feeling inside; but coming from Mason it just made me want to puke. Nevertheless, I swallowed any feelings that I may have had and replied…

"Okay then." I said simply. Mason raised his eyebrows at me before speaking once again.

"Give me your number love, I'll call and tell you when and where." He said, attempting to be charming.

He pulled out a pen from his back pocket and handed it to me; I coyly asked him for his arm and wrote my number along his bicep.

"I'll be waiting for your call…" I said seductively.

He smirked, and turned and made his way back inside.

I watched him go before retrieving my ear piece and placing it back into my ear.

"Guys, I managed to get us a window of opportunity…Tomorrow night I've got a date with Mason Lockwood; and tomorrow night we steal every single penny he owns." I exclaimed happily.

I heard cheering from the other end of the line and a smile decorated my features.

"Good work Caroline, but that doesn't mean I'm impressed with your methods. Going solo earlier was not smart and things could have gone very wrong." Klaus said disapprovingly, however I could hear his approval too.

"Sorry…" was all I replied, not really meaning it.

"We'll meet you back at the apartment later. Well done for tonight Caroline…" Klaus replied.

I smiled, happy with my achievement, before pulling on my helmet, zipping up my jacket and starting the engine.

… Mason Lockwood was going down…

* * *

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**So I tried to make this chapter a bit longer, I hope you enjoyed it!**

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	12. Caroline's Trouble

**Caroline's POV**

Earlier, when adrenaline and excitement was running high, I hadn't quite realised how far out of town Mason Lockwood had travelled. It was reasonably dark out now, and I was glad I got new bulbs put in my headlights all that time ago. The roads were pretty empty and I was thankful for that, it meant I could break the speed limit as often as I liked without worrying about getting into an accident.

The night had been a pretty tiring one, and I could feel my eyelids getting heavy; my concentration was slipping. I gave a snort or frustration and knew that I could no longer keep going like this, I was tired, I was travelling very fast on my bike, and I knew that those two things combined were a death trap. I pulled over at a clearing up ahead and got off my bike, before grabbing my mobile phone, I checked the clock and saw that it read 11:45pm, woah... it really had gotten late.

I rang Elena first, but found that her phone was off; quickly after I tried Matt, Stefan and Bonnie, but received no answer. I guess they must have all gone to bed and left their phones lying around somewhere else. I was pretty pissed to be honest; they didn't even have the decency to wait up for me to come home.

It was getting cold and I felt a shiver travel up my spine, I pulled my arms tightly around myself and debated whether to get back on my bike and ride home anyway. I shook that feeling off and remembered that Niklaus had given me his number in case of an emergency. I brought up my contact list and pressed call, hoping like crazy that he would pick up.

Sure enough, he did...

"Nik speaking, whats up?" he said on the other end of the line, obviously not realizing it was me; I had never heard him call himself Nik before... I liked it...

"Hey Klaus, it's Caroline." I said shortly, my teeth chattering slightly as I spoke.

"Ah, Caroline love; I was just starting to get worried about you - where have you been?" He asked in a concerned voice.

"I'm about 8 miles away; I'm really tired and my concentration keeps slipping, I don't want to ride my bike the rest of the way, because I could have an accident and hurt somebody, or myself or my precious bike! I said with a laugh.

"I'll be right there sweetheart. I'm guessing you're on the back country lane?" He inquired.

"Sure am, there's a big clearing, you can't miss me..." I said cheerily; thankful that he'd answered.

"Well then, I'll be seeing you in a minute, don't talk to any strangers love..."

I laughed drily before hanging up.

Thank god for Niklaus Mikaelson...

**Klaus's POV**

I borrowed Matt's truck from the parking lot and left the house as soon as I had finished the call with Caroline. It was dark out, and I knew she could handle herself, but this was a strange place to her and I worried about the kind of mess she could get herself into. I know it wasn't my place to worry, she was a grown woman who could do as she wished; but I couldn't help but feel the need to protect her.

Funnily enough, that was exactly the same instinct that had kicked in earlier when she'd gone in to grab Mason's attention. All I could think in that moment was to get in the car and drive as fast as possible to where she was and make sure she was safe. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the thought. After all, I was Niklaus Mikaelson, a criminal who didn't mind getting his hands dirty, and here I was obsessing over a girl... how ridiculous.

Nevertheless, I subconsciously took a short cut and broke the speed limit to get to Caroline Forbes as soon as possible.

**Caroline's POV**

I sat down on the curb, and stared around at my surroundings. Up until now, I'd never really felt truly alone; but now I did. I thought about my life, and realized that it seemed that it had always really been that way for me. Elena was my best friend and even though she always tried to be there for me, Stefan and Damon always seemed to get in the way. Bonnie also tried her best to keep in touch, but she had other priorities, and to be honest I wasn't even sure what she was up to half the time. My mother had disowned me when she discovered that I'd been involved with some robbery with my ex-boyfriend Connor. She'd thrown me out onto the street, she insisted that she was the Sheriff and she couldn't have a criminal for a daughter. I'd been denied from seeing my brother, when I'd left he was ten, he would be considerably older now, and I had no idea what he looked like, what he did, or what his hopes and dreams were. I felt a pang of sadness within me; my dad had died a long time ago so I'd never been able to turn to him. The only person that really looked out for me was Matt; but I wasn't sure if that was because he cared or just because he wanted to get into my pants. I smirked at my thoughts; the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Klaus and I really were similar. We were both technically outcasts, he had no contact with his mother and father, and a reasonably non-existent relationship with his siblings, other than when they were doing business together.

My gaze travelled, and I was broken away from my thought process as I saw a group of about half a dozen reasonably drunken men strolling towards me. My instincts immediately kicked in and I picked up my stuff and made my way towards me bike, anxious to put as much distance between myself and them as possible.

"Hey gorgeous! Wait up!" One of them slurred.

I could sense they had gotten even closer, I knew that running away was not an option. A hand crept out towards me and I slapped it away, just as another one reached out. I dropped rapidly into defense mode to discover that the men had created a circle around me; there was no exit. Even though they were slightly drunk I could tell that they still had their wits about them, still had their strength and a reasonably clear mind. I knew that even though I had my combat training I couldn't take them all on at once.

"Don't look so scared babe; we just want to have some fun." One of them leant towards me; I could smell the stink of beer on his breath.

I did plan to keep things civilized, to try and cut my losses and get out of here reasonably unscathed; but the man had invaded my personal space, and quite frankly... just pissed me off...

"Oh you want to have some fun?" I asked wickedly, taking a brave step towards the man.

"Oooh, I like them feisty." The man whispered into my ear. I'd heard enough.

I punched him hard on the nose, and drew blood immediately; it trickled from his nostrils and down his chin.

"Well, that wasn't very nice was it darling? I may have to punish you for doing that to my friend..." A man said from behind as he grasped me around the waist.

I screamed, kicked, punched and bit; but it turned out these men were tough, he'd got lucky though surprising me like that, usually I saw it coming. I wriggled and squirmed and kicked up as much fuss as possible but it just wasn't working.

The man from behind tore my jacket from my shoulders and his hands made their way towards my shirt, Oh no...

**Klaus's POV**

I looked out for the clearing, knowing that it should be up-a-head pretty soon; sure enough another two minutes down the road my headlights illuminated the clearing before me.

My heart skipped a beat as I saw the scene that was playing out before my eyes.

Caroline was struggling to break free from the clutches of at least six men; she was putting up a reasonably good fight, but I knew she couldn't keep up for much longer. One of the men tore her jacket from her body and his hands once again snaked out towards her. All I saw was red; I didn't even bother to turn off the ignition; I slammed on the breaks and leaped from the truck before sprinting over towards them.

Once I reached the group, two men approached me with mean, alcohol induced expressions on their faces; I knocked them out cold with only a few blows.

Two other men saw me rapidly approaching and must have seen that I meant business, they rapidly ran away from me and the rage which I was bringing with me.

"Klaus help!" Caroline screeched out, still battling with two of the men, a determined look on her face; I knew that she never liked to ask for help, but this was a pretty awful situation. I grabbed the man holding her and smacked him around the face a couple of times, he stumbled from the blows and I kicked him to the floor. Before climbing on top of him and continuing the beating.

I was pretty sure I heard screaming around me, but all I could focus on was making this man pay for what he'd done; somehow his face seemed to look like Tyler Lockwood, I imagined seeing Tyler lying before me and it fueled my rage even more. I continued my assault, my hands were bloody, the skin on my knuckles was torn and slashed and the man's face was now undistinguishable.

"Stop Klaus! Stop, everything's fine!" I heard a voice exclaim from behind me. I didn't register who it was and just kept on going, my thoughts jumbled and I didn't know what to do other than hit the man over... and over... and over...

"Stop, Stop; you're going to kill him!"

"NIKLAUS! Stop now!" The voice became louder and I felt someone fling their arms around my shoulders, attempting to pull me away. I was snapped away from my thought process and as I looked back down at the man beneath me, I no longer saw Tyler Lockwood; but just a man who'd had too much to drink and had tried to have his way with Caroline. I looked at what I'd done to his face, it was blue and purple and blood was gushing everywhere. The man would be lucky if he ever woke again.

**Caroline's POV**

I finally managed to pull Klaus away from the man; I embraced him tightly before leading him to sit down on the curb. I could see tears beginning to form in his eyes and a look of absolute hopelessness on his face.

"I...I..Don't know what happened..." He stuttered out, his pupils had widened as he assessed his surroundings.

"It's done now Klaus, it can't be undone; we'll just call an ambulance and leave okay..." I replied as soothingly as possible.

"I'm a monster, oh god, I'm a monster; pure evil..." He screamed out, rage filling his eyes.

"No Niklaus you are not a monster." I pleaded with him; taking his head into my hands and looking sternly at him.

"I am, my father always said I was; always said I was the bad child. I hated my father, I hated him so much and all along he was right; I'm a criminal, an evil criminal, the most wanted. I just beat a man to virtually the point of death and I'm alone and I have no one." He murmured softly, disgusted with himself.

"You're not a monster, you're not evil, you're just hurt. Tyler and Mason did some abominable things to your brother and that would be enough to push anyone over the edge. But you held on, kept some peace of mind, you looked out for me; I know you were worried for my safety earlier. And anyone who has the ability to care for someone, can be saved..." I said softly to him, still holding his face in my hands. I saw the tears that had formed begin to disperse and he stared up at me before speaking.

"I think you're beautiful, kind, strong and full of light Caroline Forbes. I want to help you get out of this life; I want you to have a second chance too, because if I deserve one, then so do you..." He said simply, before standing up and making his way over to my bike.

"I'd better get your bike loaded up onto the truck so we can get going love, it's gotten late and we don't want to ruin the rest of the plans." He said with a wink, not with as much bravado as normal, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.

I nodded at him before grabbing my jacket, climbing into the truck and calling 911.

"911, how can I help you?"

"I've found a man out on the backstreet about 15 miles down from 'Sam's Biker Bar'; he's been beaten unconscious and an ambulance is needed." I said simply.

"Okay Ma'am, the ambulance will be there soon; can you hang around and answer some questions when the police arrive..." My heart quickened and I hung up quickly, before removing my sim card, snapping it in two and putting it into Matt's trucks glove compartment.

Klaus jumped into the passenger seat, started the engine and looked over at me.

"You called an ambulance love?"

I nodded in reply.

"You made sure the call can't be traced?"

I nodded once again before showing him the snapped sim card.

**Klaus's POV**

We drove home in complete silence; neither of us knowing what to say. It was quite peaceful to be honest, not even awkward; I found myself thinking of how I'd never had an experience like this before. Being able to sit in silence with someone, feeling completely at peace and trusting them completely. I smiled as my gaze travelled to Caroline who was asleep in the passenger seat. She really was something, something so amazing, and so wonderful, that I knew that someone like me could never deserve her.

All I knew was that I was going to try damn hard...

...Because I knew that Caroline Forbes was _the _only girl for me...

**Hey guys!**

**Sorry I didn't update as quickly as usual...also, sorry this chapter's kind of gloomy/all about feelings... don't worry though, there shall be more action shortly!  
Ohmygosh - did anyone else get really...really...really excited about that Klaroline scene on TVD the other day? - IT WAS AMAZING!**

**Thank you for everyone who's reading, reviewed and followed... I love to hear from you so please keep telling me what you think/what you'd maybe like to see happen!**

**Hope you enjoyed this installment and see you at the next chapter!**


	13. Disagreement

**Caroline's POV**

I awoke and rolled over to discover myself in my room at the apartment Klaus had rented. I squinted at the clock and saw that it displayed 6:30am; I knew that we continued the rest of the job today and therefore I would have to get up now to be prepared. I flung the covers from my body and sat up. However, that was when it occurred to me that I didn't remember getting ready for bed. My forehead creased in thought trying to remember what had happened.

_"Sleep well sweetheart; you definitely deserve it." Klaus muttered gently to me as he placed me down on the bed, removed my shoes and jacket, before pulling the covers over me and kissing me lightly on the forehead. _

Woah, Klaus must have carried me up from the car in the parking lot, right to my room without waking me up; well actually that wasn't much of an achievement, because when I'm asleep, I sleep like the dead. I really hope I hadn't been drooling when I was sleeping, I'd never be able to get over the embarrassment if Klaus had seen.

I brushed off the thought and climbed from the bed, I then removed my clothes from yesterday, feeling absolutely disgusting and pulled on my pajamas. I straightened out my hair and tied it into a messy bun before making my way into the living room.

**Klaus's POV**

We were all scattered around the living room, eating breakfast in quite an uncomfortable silence. I had informed the others of the situation that had occurred last night with the drunken men, and they weren't happy; they were all worried that for some reason the fight would be linked back to me and therefore to them too. I tried to explain to them that we left no evidence, and the man who I'd beaten wouldn't dare go to the police unless he wanted to be charged with trying to assault Caroline. However, they still wouldn't listen to me. I really hoped that Caroline would get up soon so I wouldn't be the only one given the cold shoulder.

Sure enough, it was almost as if she read my thoughts. I looked up to see Caroline making her way elegantly into the room, looking absolutely gorgeous in her pajamas. I felt a smile making its way onto my face; she made eye contact with me and smiled back. Hmmm...Was I making some progress?

**Caroline's POV**

The minute I entered the room I could sense some weird kind of tense atmosphere. No one was talking to one another and eye contact was being avoided.

"Morning love, you feeling better this morning?" Klaus asked me with a twinkle in his eye.

I couldn't help but smile back, his mood was infectious. "Yes thank you Niklaus; I'm actually looking forward to what lays ahead of us today."

"Probably jail..." Matt muttered under his breath, shooting me a less-than friendly look.

"Woah. What's up with you?" I inquired with a mock horrified expression on my face. Matt turned his body towards me and was about to reply, but Elena got in there before him.

"God Care, you should know what the matter is! That whole incident last night could have gotten us all into a load of shit! You should have been more careful!" Elena exclaimed, obviously frustrated. I processed what Elena had said to me, and began to feel my cheeks color, and a rage build within me.

"Ohmygod! Do you ever think of anyone but yourself! Because Elena, I haven't heard you asking how I am considering half a dozen drunken men tried to take advantage of me last night; where's your concern huh? I was just defending myself, and luckily Klaus got there in time to help me, otherwise things may have turned out very differently!" I screamed out. As I spoke Elena complexion began to pale; as if she was realizing her errors.

"Oh and for the record… you lot should have been congratulating me, because I went into that disgusting bar; flirted with that bastard Mason Lockwood, and now I'm going out on a date with him. I'm spending time with him to create a window of opportunity for you lot to go and rob him… and I didn't see any of you rushing to volunteer as the distraction did I? No. So you know what… next time it would be nice if you all think before you speak, or fix me with one of your judge mental looks!" This time I was on the verge of tears; I think it was the fact that what happened last night was finally sinking in; I was finally realizing how lucky I'd actually been.

Elena began to make her way over to comfort me, but Klaus beat her to it; placing himself between Elena and me.

"I think you've done enough already, don't you Elena?" He asked her in a tone that would have to be described as… venomous. He also fixed Bonnie and Matt with a glare that I would have hated to be on the receiving end of. The only person who got away from this encounter unscathed was Stefan; he sat quietly in the corner minding his own business, obviously not wanting to get in on an argument between his best friend and his girlfriend.

**Klaus's POV**

I could tell that Caroline was in no mood to make conversation with anyone in the room at the present moment, so I figured it was up to me to solve that problem.

"We'll be leaving soon; there are only two bathrooms so I recommend that you all go and get ready now to prevent feuding over them later." I said with a raised eyebrow, trying to communicate the under lying message of: _Get the hell out now._

It seemed that they understood me pretty well, as Bonnie, Matt and Elena promptly vacated the room. Whilst Stefan made his excuses and went to read his book elsewhere.

"Sit down love; I'll get you something to eat." I said to Caroline, whilst removing my hand from around her waist and gesturing toward the table. She nodded in response and went to sit down; her face portraying that she was still pretty pissed from the others ungratefulness.

We didn't have time for me to make anything fancy so I just made her a cup of tea and some toast and jam. I set them down on the table and sat opposite her. She muttered out a brief thank-you and then just stared at them for a while.

"I didn't poison it sweetheart, go on, have some; we need to be leaving soon." I said coaxingly.

She picked up a bit and ate a mouthful slowly; her appetite obviously came back as she devoured the rest pretty quickly.

**Caroline's POV**

I thanked Klaus for his hospitality and went to shower and get dressed. I knew we were short on time so I left my hair down, deciding that it could air-dry.

I padded back into the kitchen area where everyone was congregated, obviously ready to discuss todays plan.

"We're sorry Care." Bonnie said sincerely on behalf of everyone.

"That's alright…" I replied good-naturedly before giving them all a hug.

"Right, so let's talk the plan…" Klaus said, interrupting the moment. We all moved away from one another and listened intently.

Klaus explained it all, and it was pretty straight forward. Today he and I were going to see a mate of his to get a suitable car for the job; meanwhile Bonnie was perfecting her drug, Elena was practicing on a replica safe to the one which Mason owns and Matt and Stefan were checking all the communications equipment.

We all agreed and went our separate ways. I grabbed my jacket from the hall and followed Klaus from the apartment.

"So Klaus? Why did you choose me to pick the car with you rather than Stefan?" I asked curiously.

"Sweetheart, it's common knowledge that you love anything with an engine; and anyway I'd rather see your beautiful face rather than Stefan's, and your conversation is much more interesting. Considering Stefan is your best friend too, you've obviously noted how insanely broody he is. Especially now with all this _'__she loves me… she loves me not' _with Elena." Klaus said cheekily.

I could feel the blush rising in my cheeks, damn him… he always knew the exact right thing to say.

"Well, you're conversation and looks aren't that bad either." I replied, winking back.

He smirked and turned his attention back to the road. I noticed that we were getting into a pretty dodgy looking area in town; the streets were narrow and the houses were battered and aged. I figured that when Klaus said he had a connection, that connection was not likely to be an honest man.

"So this guy we're going to see; who is he?"

"My, my love; someone's got a lot of questions today haven't they?" he replied.

I gave a grunt of annoyance, which prompted him to feed me a bit of information.

"He's a man I know way back from my time in school. Just be aware, he isn't the friendliest or the politest man on the planet; but he's the best mechanic I know and he knows his way around any kind of car you throw at him." I nodded in response, understanding what Klaus was getting at. Basically, the guy was probably going to be a total asshole to me, but we were going to tolerate that because he was going to be doing us a big favor.

"Well, I just can't wait to get there…" I said sarcastically.

"Don't you worry love, he's got a massive collection of bikes/cars/boats/trucks… you're going to be like a kid whose just been told he can live in a sweetshop!" He exclaimed loudly.

I laughed in response and we fell back into a pleasant silence.

I wasn't going to let him know because I didn't want to make his ego any bigger; but I could not wait to get there!

* * *

**Hello! **

**This is another not so eventful chapter, but I'm still trying to set the scene slightly. Sorry about the slow growing relationship between Klaus and Caroline but I wanted to make it realistic. **

**Please read, review and follow!**

**Thanks so much to everyone who has been reviewing; I love to know what you all think!**

**Until next time… **


	14. Klaus's Risk

**Caroline's POV**

As I carefully curled my hair, I glanced over to the clock on the side. The display showed 6:45pm, I let out a sigh of exasperation. I'd left it way too late to get ready, and still had not chosen an outfit. I turned off my curlers and shoved them to one side, before turning around and assessing the many outfits that I had slung over my bed.

"Ohmygod. What the hell am I going to wear?" I exclaimed to myself.

"Definitely those leggings love, from where I'm standing they seem like the kind of thing that will leave _nothing_ to the imagination." I swear my heart nearly stopped beating in shock. Klaus had sneaked up behind me and shared his opinion. His hot breath tickling my ear, and his gorgeous accent giving me tingles all over.

I stepped away from him quickly, realizing how close our bodies were pressing to one another.

"Geeesh, Klaus you nearly gave me a heart attack!" I shouted at him. He rolled his eyes at me and smirked whilst shaking his head endearingly.

"Well sweetheart, you obviously needed help making the outfit decision; and I, obviously being such a fashion icon just had to step in to help." He replied mockingly.

I punched him on the arm jokingly; but found myself doing a double take when I discovered how muscular he was. I shook off the thought and tried to think of something else, _anything _else. I wasn't quite sure what was happening to me just lately; Klaus MIkaelson was just an ally, just a business partner... yet, I couldn't help admiring how amazing he looked in his combat gear...not just amazing..._extremely _sexy...

Klaus waved a hand in front of my eyes, snapping me rapidly from my thought process.

"You alright love; you seem to have drifted off there for a second." He said questioningly.

I nodded quickly in response and muttered something about being worried about tonight, which wasn't a total lie; I was worried, just not as worried as I let him think.

He drew me in for a quick hug to try and comfort me.

"Everyone knows he's an a-class bastard love, you could take him any day... so what _are _you going to wear." He asked.

I couldn't help but giggle at his response.

"Haha! Niklaus, you are such a girl... asking me what I'm going to wear; what's next? Are we going to take our clothes off and swap outfits or something?" I replied jokingly.

He smiled back at me before speaking.

"Well love, I'm not sure about the swapping clothes thing, but I would be delighted to take my clothes off with you…at least then I won't have to imagine anymore…" He said slyly.

"Ugh. You are so gross!" I yelped at him as he made a dive to grab the bottom of my shirt; I pushed him away and went over to my many selections of clothes on the bed. I picked up the leggings and a blouse I'd flung next to it.

"So as you are the expert… what about this shirt?" I asked mockingly.

"Good choice love, a bit see-through too…I'm sure Mason wouldjust _love _a flash of the merchandise…" He stated with a sneaky raise of the eyebrow.

I grabbed the pillow and threw it across the room at him; it hit him straight in the face. A huge giggle erupted from within me, and an evil expression formed on Klaus's face. I knew it was a good time for me to make him leave… before he could get his own back. I leapt from the bed and ran towards him, before giving him a good shove and closing the door hard behind him.

"Well sweetheart, that was a bit mean…" He said from the other side of the door.

"You've seen nothing yet…" Was all I replied cheekily. I knew that I was flirting with him, but somehow it just came so naturally when I was around him. I turned my gaze back towards the clock and saw that it was 7pm; woops… I was meant to be meeting Mason back at the bar at 7:30.

I pulled on the leggings and the shirt, before pulling on my bike boots and leather jacket. I fluffed up my hair, added a scarf and grabbed my helmet. I knew that I was going to get helmet-hair, but that was the price you had to pay for safety. I strode back into the living room and saw the others making some last minute preparations.

Stefan was ensuring all the communication equipment was in order, Bonnie was checking over the drugs she had made earlier to knock out the guards. Elena was having one last practice 'cracking' the replica safe, Matt was doing something on his phone. Klaus however, was the only one looking un-concerned; he was sitting casually on the couch and throwing his car keys from one hand to the other; making an extremely irritating sound… which I imagined to be his intention.

I slumped down on the couch beside Klaus and grabbed the keys before he could reclaim them.

"Niklaus; do you have any idea how annoying you are?" I asked him mockingly.

"Yes love that was my intention…" which was just what I had thought.

**Klaus's POV**

I couldn't stop fidgeting; I saw the others around me making their last minute finishing touches, I however, had already sorted everything else. Therefore, I could do nothing other than sit and wait. I tried to comfort myself by imagining the expression on Mason Lockwood's face when he discovered his money was gone… but still, it couldn't distract me from the thoughts of Caroline's safety. Mason was an evil bastard and I didn't trust him with _my_ Caroline. Just when I was about to second guess myself about the word '_my', _Bonnie broke my thought process.

"So Klaus, how do we know that the only money that Mason owns is in his safe?" she inquired. I rolled my eyes at her stupidity.

"Because, the money Mason earns is illegal; therefore he couldn't process it through the banks because questions would be asked…questions that he wouldn't be able to answer without going to jail." I explained simply, and tried not to be patronizing, but seriously… some people could just be so stupid.

She nodded in understanding.

**Caroline's POV**

I rose from the couch and picked up my helmet.

Bonnie, Stefan, Elena and Matt all jumped up to give me a hug and wish me luck. I squeezed them all tightly and broke away.

"I'll walk down with you to the parking lot love." Klaus said simply before rising from the couch and making his way towards the door. I followed.

We walked in a comfortable silence right up until we reached my bike. I got onto my bike with my helmet grasped tightly in my hands. Klaus reached down and freed it from my hands; I looked up at him in confusion.

"Be safe love." He muttered quietly. Before reaching down and placing a gentle kiss onto my lips; it was nothing more than a peck, but I still knew that it was the best kiss in my life. I stared up at Klaus with conflicting feelings on my face. He just smiled simply at me, before slipping the helmet onto my head and doing it up. He tapped me on the shoulder, and smiled once more. I smiled back at him and started up the engine. As I left the parking lot I could feel his eyes on me the entire time; that was when I knew that I was going to be perfectly safe, because Niklaus would make sure of it.

**Klaus's POV**

I wasn't sure what came over me, but I just bent down and pressed a kiss to her lips. Something within me just told me to do it; and I was sick of restraining myself any longer. She looked up at me with an array of feelings on her face; I was worried that I had over-stepped the mark, but it was too late to take it back now. Unsure what else to do, I just smiled and slipped the helmet onto her head. I was always told that emotions were a person's biggest burden; and now I knew that was true… I was just thankful that Matt would be there to ensure Caroline's safety later on.

As I watched her leave, I turned and made my way back up to the apartment.

It was time to turn off my emotions... because now it was time to make Mason Lockwood pay…

* * *

**Hello!**

**Thanks to everyone that has been reading, reviewing and following. I love to hear from all of you. **

**I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.**

**P.S – So Now Tyler's gone there seems to be a bit more hope for Klaroline on TVD! **


	15. Action

**Caroline's POV**

I pulled up at the bar, and parked my bike. Before removing my helmet, I had a quick look through the window to see if Mason was inside. Sure enough, I could just about make out his broad figure sitting at one of the bar stools. I tugged my helmet from my head and inserted my earpeice, before speaking nice and clearly.

"Guys, Mason is here; go and take all the money he owns!" I said enthusiastically; I was feeling pretty enthusiastic about this, after-all, there didn't seem like there was much that could go wrong.

"Okay Caroline, you get in there and do your thing; Matt will be shadowing you later to ensure everything is going fine. We've got this girl, and it's all because of you!" Bonnie exclaimed optimistically from the other line.

"Thanks Bonnie!" I replied; thankful that it was her responding to me rather than Klaus; I was pretty sure that things could be awkward between us after the kiss, and I didn't want the others to realize that something had happened.

Just like before, I straightened out my hair and my outfit, and strode as confidently as possible into the bar. I felt eyes upon my figure, and I suddenly felt dirty, I began to regret the tight leggings and provocative shirt, but in the end, if it was going to keep Mason Lockwood occupied then I should be thankful. As Mason turned on his stool to face me, I tossed my hair flirtily over one shoulder, and unzipped my jacket completely to give him the full effect of my outfit. He rose from the stool and came towards me, as we became close he captured one of my hands in his and brought it to his lips. He kissed it gently, I couldn't help but feel the urge to go and wash my hands, as if he had coated me in a layer of germs. I smiled as brightly as I could and threw an encouraging wink in his direction; trying to make him believe that the gesture had had the desired effect; when in fact it had had the opposite.

He drew away from me and pointed towards one of the bar stools.

"So I was thinking Babe, we could stay and have a beer, and then I've got us reservations at the restaurant Nero's which is about five minutes down the road." I nodded enthusiastically before speaking.

"Well, that sounds perfect; let me just run to the bathroom and then I'll be straight out... and definitely ready for some adventures." I said with a cheeky raise of the eyebrow. It seemed to have the desired effect as I saw a slight flush rise in Mason's cheeks. I stood up and made my way to the bathroom. I checked there was no one else in there, before speaking to the others.

"Hey, Mason's taking me to the restaurant Nero's which is just down the road from here." I stated.

"Okay Care; I'll be there to shadow you in about fifteen minutes or so..." Matt replied.

I lathered up some soap onto my hands and stuck them under the tap; anxious to get rid of any remnants of Mason's touch. I looked over myself quickly in the mirror and before making my way back into the bar.

Here I go again...

**Klaus's POV**

We all sat anxiously in the van waiting for Bonnie and Stefan to do their thing. In order for us to get into the house, we needed Bonnie to knock out the guards and Stefan to crack the code to open the gates for us. I gave a sigh of frustration and leant back into my seat. Surprisingly, Elena leant over and placed one hand on my arm.

"Niklaus, Caroline is absolutely fine; Matt is looking out for her and no harm will come to her at-all... I promise. "She said sincerely. I looked over at her curiously before replying.

"Elena, I have no idea what you are talking about in regards to Caroline; we are nothing but friends, and I can assure you, I worry for her as a friend but nothing more." I said, anxiously trying to justify myself. Elena patted me on the arm whilst raising an eyebrow in response.

"So that kiss in the parking lot earlier was just between friends?" She asked cheekily, clearly already knowing the answer. I stared at her, sure that my mouth had formed into a wide 'O'.

"Did you forget that you asked Stefan to install those security Camera's in the parking lot so that you could check what was going on from the apartment? It just so happened that us lot happened to be looking at the screen whilst you two were getting close!" She exclaimed with a laugh, I was angry at myself for forgetting that I'd asked for those to be put in.

"Don't worry Niklaus; No one has any objections, well except for Matt of course, he's always had a thing for Caroline. I think that you are going to be a great thing for Caroline, too long has she spent alone; it's time for her to meet someone that she could see herself with." Elena continued sincerely; it was obvious that she cared a lot for Caroline, so I mentally forgave her for her little outburst earlier. She had just made it clear to me that Caroline was one of the most important things in her life, and in a way she had given me her blessing. I felt hope rise within me. If Elena thought there was a chance for Caroline and I, then maybe Caroline would feel the same?

"We're ready to roll." Stefan's voice came over the inter-com and broke the moment of understanding between Elena and I. Elena grabbed her bag and climbed from the van and I promptly climbed into the driver's seat, awaiting the arrival of the money and the get-away that followed.

Elena turned and tapped on the window before leaving...

"Don't worry Klaus, in 30minutes time we're going to be some of the richest people in the world, we'll be able to do anything that we want to do, and there will be absolutely nothing to hold us back." She said encouragingly, before jogging away.

I smiled to myself. Maybe things were going to turn out okay.

**Caroline's POV**

Time had passed and Mason and I were seated at the table, virtually half way through our main course. We had a secluded spot in the corner of the room by the window, a rose and a candle were placed in the center of the table; and I could understand how girls fell for Mason Lockwood so easily. He'd put a lot of thought into this, he'd asked especially for white roses, and ensured that we'd have some privacy - many things in which a girl would be extremely flattered by. Not only that, but conversation came easily; he chatted about his business, his hopes and dreams, his family and his passions. To some-one else he would have sounded completely sincere; almost like the perfect guy. I however, knew all about him and therefore wouldn't fall for any of his bullshit.

He was currently telling me about his collection of cars and bikes; a topic which I of course appreciated greatly, and I didn't even have to pretend to be interested or Knowledgeable in the area because… I was. He seemed to enjoy my enthusiasm on the subject, it was clear that he liked me asking him some challenging questions on the various models of bikes and cars. It made a man like him feel powerful, and influential; and therefore it encouraged him to continue our date, and continue to pursue my attention.

**Elena's POV**

Everything so far had run smoothly, Stefan and Bonnie had gotten us in unnoticed, we'd located the safe, and now it was my turn...

I took a deep breath and stared intently at the safe, I discovered that it wasn't exactly the same as the one I'd been practicing on. I'd mistaken the model from the camera footage. I felt a wave of nausea rise within me.

Stefan came up behind me and placed his hands onto my shoulders, massaging them slightly. He leant inwards and murmured into my ear.

"Relax Elena, you've done this a thousand times before, a thousand different safes and none of them have ever beaten you before... and believe me, today is not going to be the day that a safe gets the better of you." he whispered encouragingly.

I took yet another deep breath and reached into my bag for my equipment. It was now or never, I thought to myself as I approached the safe.

**Caroline's POV**

We were still on the subject of bikes, and Mason was telling me about an accident he'd had not long ago. Apparently he'd come into close contact with another bike and toppled, the bike landing on top of him and damaging some of the ligaments in his leg.

"So Caroline, don't you ever get afraid of life in the fast lane; don't you get worried that sometimes your bike will fail you?" Mason asked me curiously.

"I always trust the bike; those things will never fail you... it's the maniacs riding them that I don't trust." I said smiling; the response coming naturally to me.

Mason stared at me intently for a moment or two; an intense expression forming on his face and then when he spoke again his voice was considerably colder.

"It's funny you say that Caroline... because my nephew Tyler used to say that expression all the time, and you know what? I've never, ever heard anyone else use that expression other than him..." Mason said menacingly.

I could feel my hands beginning to sweat and knew that my face had paled.

"Did you know Tyler, Caroline?" Mason asked, leaning closer towards me.

"N-no...why would you think that? It's just a stupid expression..." I said carefully. Knowing full well that I had inherited that phrase from Tyler, and I was furious at myself for using the expression in front of Mason; I didn't think.

"You know Caroline...Tyler told me about a girlfriend of his, he described her to look just like you and she was into bikes too." He murmured gruffly, his lips almost pressed against my ear.

"And you know what else Caroline... I was pretty sure your name sounded familiar; I was sure Tyler told me about a girl called Caroline, and here you are." He spat even more venomously than before. Unfortunately, we were secluded in the corner and therefore Mason didn't have to worry about whether the other customers would see our little display.

Mason grabbed my arm tightly and squeezed.

"The funny thing is Caroline, now Tyler's dead; and it can't be coincidence that you're here." He said staring into my eyes.

"I know you're working with Niklaus Mikaelson; it's so obvious, it's written all over your face." He exclaimed, gripping even tighter.

I chose not to respond to Mason's comment, not wanting to make the situation any more obvious. I just screwed my eyes up tightly, before speaking clearly:

"Matt; I need help!" Knowing that he would have heard the exchange between Mason and me, and would be waiting outside ready to get away.

"I've got the car started up Care; make a run for it, I've got your back." He said simply and confidently.

I stood up rapidly and struck Mason hard around the face, knocking his chair backwards and taking him with it. I didn't hang around to see what else I caused; I dashed for the door, anxious to get away.

"Come back here you little bitch!" I heard Mason shout from behind me.

His voice made me sprint even faster, I felt guilty for disturbing all the other customers in this place; it was obviously a very expensive restaurant and I'd ruined their night.

I made it outside about twenty seconds before Mason and leaped into Matt's car.

"Drive, drive, drive... quickly!" I shouted at Matt; I looked back as we sped off and discovered Mason running to his car obviously anxious to catch up with us.

"Guys, Mason's on to us; you need to grab the money and get out of there!" I shouted down the inter-com to the others, knowing that Mason was likely to head straight home.

"Okay Care, see you back at the apartment, keep safe." Was all that Stefan muttered in response.

I slumped back into the seat completely exhausted, and turned my head to stare at Matt, who was concentrating intently on the road ahead of us; good job too... I was pretty sure we were travelling at over 140mph.

"Shit Care, what happened?" He asked quickly, whilst letting out a sigh of shock.

"One minute you and him were laughing and having fun, and then he mentioned that guy Tyler that Klaus killed and things went down-hill?" He glanced over at me.

"I'll explain later, can you quickly stop off at the biker bar, I need to grab my bike." I said quickly, knowing that if I didn't go and get my bike back now, I would never see it again. I sighed in annoyance, I knew I'd have to get the paintwork changed, it was too custom and familiar, and Mason could spot it easily and come after me. I also thought back to the scene that was likely to unfold at the apartment later; Niklaus had obviously heard every word that had gone down between Mason and me at the bar, and therefore I could imagine he would be furious about my connection to Tyler Lockwood. Man, I was actually pretty scared; no matter what may have gone down between Niklaus and I just lately, this was a complete game changer... I'd hidden my link to Tyler and I knew there was going to be hell to pay.

"Okay Care, I'll drop you off the minute we get outside. Slip your helmet on now and I'll meet you back at the apartment?" Matt said with a commanding tone, which I appreciated because I wasn't quite sure where my head was at right now.

I nodded in response and tugged on my helmet, knowing that we were getting close.

**Elena's POV**

Shit.

I heard Caroline's message and knew that I didn't have much time left. I'd only gotten the first four numbers of the combination and still had four to go. This safe was proving difficult to crack, and if I made one wrong move I knew that the emergency tumblers would lock and then there would be absolutely no hope of me getting in there. I couldn't use my drill because there was a thin panel of glass behind the lock and if I so much as grazed it, it would also activate the emergency tumblers.

So now I was left with the old fashioned way; Stethoscope and Pencil and listening to the 'click,click,click' of the tumblers. I turned the dial and heard yet another click, to discover the number 8 to be part of the combination.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I'm pretty sure we've got about 5minutes left until Mason gets back here, please try and hurry." Klaus said seriously.

I took a step back and wiped the sweat from my brow.

"I can't do it; I can't do it, there isn't enough time!" I exclaimed, feeling anxious tears beginning to form in my eyes.

Stefan once again came up from behind me; he grabbed my hand and led me back towards the safe. He placed the stethoscope around my neck and gave me a quick squeeze of encouragement.

"I know you can do this Elena, try again..."

I gave a sigh of annoyance and tried once again.

**Caroline's POV**

I jumped out of the car and slammed the door shut behind me. I saw my bike a short distance away and I ran towards it. I slung my leg over it and turned on ignition, I clicked the starter and got going, I weaved through the traffic anxious to put as much distance between Mason and myself as possible.

**Klaus's POV**

I drummed my fingers anxiously on the steering wheel; I hadn't heard much more from Elena, and I was hoping that she was nearly done with the safe. As for the Caroline situation, I was completely in shock. If she thought that I hadn't heard her conversation with Mason about Tyler then she was mistaken. I was absolutely disgusted; I'd kissed her lips, her lips which had been all over Tyler Lockwood, Tyler Lockwood who had killed my brother. A shiver of fury ran up my spine; the worst thing was that she hadn't even mentioned it to me. Had she been mocking me all this time? Had she been laughing over the fact that she had been the girlfriend of the man who had slaughtered my brother?

"Yes! I've done it!" Elena suddenly exclaimed, breaking me away from my thought process.

I slammed my hands down on the steering wheel in joy, at least we were going to get out of here in one piece.

That was when I saw Mason's car pulling into the driveway.

"Shit. We have a problem...

...Mason's back."

**Elena's POV**

My heart skipped a beat as I heard Klaus's voice.

Bonnie and Stefan ran quickly over to me and helped load the money into the bags. There wasn't just money in there; there was an array of different colored sheets of paper and documents in folders. However, we didn't have time to be picky; we just dumped the whole lot into the bag, shut the safe and made a dash for Mason's back door. Luckily, he had his gates on automatic during the evening as he sent his guards home at 8pm; therefore, with any luck he wouldn't have noticed that anything was wrong.

Bonnie, Stefan and I slung the bags over our backs and ran for the door. Just as we exited the room we heard Mason enter.

"How are things going?" Klaus asked anxiously.

"We're just coming round the side." I whispered, not wanting to alert Mason.

"Okay, I'm going to start the engine; we don't want to waste any precious time."

We reached the front of the house and ran up the long driveway; Bonnie quickly made her way into the security booth and injected the guards with something to wake them up. If we were lucky, when they awoke they would not have any recollection of being drugged earlier.

Finally, as we continued to run, the van came into our view. Klaus had pulled open the doors and we made a dive for them, anxious to be away from this place.

**Klaus's POV**

Stefan was the last one into the van, he slammed the door loudly behind him, and I pressed down hard on the gas pedal.

"Is everyone okay?" I inquired.

"Yes!" Chorused Stefan, Elena and Bonnie.

"Sure am..." Replied Matt.

"Mhmm." Was Caroline's unenthusiastic response, she was obviously dreading the confrontation that we were going to be having later.

I shook off the thought and looked intently at the road.

We'd gotten away... we were all safe... and we had the money...

...What could possibly go wrong now...?

* * *

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	16. Revelation

**Klaus's POV**

We all celebrated with numerous glasses of champagne throughout the night; everyone was ecstatic that we'd completed the job, and there was even more money in the safe than we had imagined.

Caroline and I had kept our distance from one another all night; I was dying to confront her about the Tyler situation but I knew that now was not the right time, not while everyone was celebrating. I glanced over at her once more, and saw her seated beside Matt on the couch, laughing and joking. It was obvious that she'd had far too much to drink, and she was getting very flirty with him.

I strode over to where Elena was standing and muttered something into her ear.

"Any chance you could sort out whatever's going on between Caroline and Matt? Because I can tell that she's had way too much to drink." I said simply.

Elena stared at me for a moment or two, but didn't ask me why I didn't do it myself. She already knew; she was a very perceptive girl, and I imagined that she'd been keeping an ear out for Caroline all night and therefore would have heard about the situation. Oh, and that's when it occurred to me that Elena had probably known all along about the Tyler situation, after all, her and Caroline were best friends...

Elena strode over and broke up whatever was happening between Caroline and Matt by sitting down right in the middle of them. I saw Caroline roll her eyes in annoyance before standing up and exclaiming:

"Well, I'm going to bed... Night everyone!" and with that, she strode out of the room.

**Caroline's POV**

I knew that I'd had too much to drink, way, way, way too much. I couldn't focus properly and I was thankful when Elena came to break things up between Matt and me. I was pretty sure things could have turned out very unpleasant. It was agonizing having to act happy when all I wanted to do was straighten things out with Klaus; I didn't want him to be thinking badly of me any longer, he needed to know the circumstances before he made his judgment. I knew now was not the time, therefore going to bed seemed like the best option; there was no point me sticking around here any longer.

I got up and said goodnight to the others, before stopping at the bathroom to brush my teeth and then to my bedroom to get some sleep.

**Klaus's POV**

I watched as Caroline made her way out of the bathroom and into her room, I knew that I couldn't wait any longer; I had to speak to her. I stared around to see that the others were all deep in conversation, so hopefully they wouldn't realize I was gone. I ignored my better judgment and followed Caroline.

I knocked gently on her door and waited for a response.

**Caroline's POV**

I heard a knock at the door and slowly got out of bed; I was hoping like crazy that it wasn't Matt outside, because I didn't want to have to turn him down again.

I gave a sigh and pulled open the door, and before me, looking extremely confused and definitely a bit angry…was Klaus.

He pushed his way into the room and closed the door tightly behind him, I found myself tensing in fear as he approached me in a menacing manner.

"I think you and I need to have a little chat, don't you love?" He said staring at me, and if looks could kill… then that one definitely would.

I nodded in response and gestured for him to come and sit beside me on the bed. He refused; it seemed that he would much prefer to have this fight standing up.

"Klaus I'm sorry that I didn't tell you!" I said sincerely, trying to project as much confidence into my tone as possible; I knew how much Niklaus hated a person who couldn't stand up for themselves.

"Oh you're sorry are you? You're sorry that you used to be the girlfriend of an absolutely disgusting human being. You're telling me, that when you came to join this job you didn't think it was relevant to clue me in or your history with that bastard Tyler?" He shouted venomously.

I didn't know how to respond; I didn't want to admit to Klaus that I hadn't willingly been Tyler Lockwood's girlfriend.

"Come on love, was your plan to screw us all over; was that why you were so annoyed to have to be the distraction? Did you want to get revenge for me killing Tyler; did you want to get us all caught in Mason's house… huh?" He continued to shout.

I felt the anger and desperation build within me, and I shoved Klaus away from me.

"I'm glad he's dead!" I shouted angrily, tears beginning to fall down my cheeks.

Klaus did a double take and his face display a very confused expression; Once more I gestured for him to come and sit beside me, and this time he did. I took this as a good sign, a sign that he wanted to sort things out.

I took a deep breath before explaining everything to Klaus.

"I wasn't Tyler's girlfriend by choice. I was in Vegas doing a job and it all went to shit. Tyler was the one that helped me solve the problem. I thought he was just being nice, but when he got me out he told me that to repay the favor I had to be his girlfriend. I tried to refuse, I really did; but he told me that he'd kill my brother, and when I heard about what he did to your brother Henrik I knew he was telling the truth. You've got to believe me Klaus, if you hadn't of killed Tyler Lockwood, then I would still be there pretending to be in love with him, all to keep my brother safe." I exclaimed, fresh tears falling from my eyes. I felt Klaus's arm snake around my shoulders as he pulled me into his embrace.

"Shhh love, I understand; it's okay. You just cry; this job must have been hard for you to do with that history." He murmured soothingly.

**Klaus's POV**

I couldn't believe how judgmental I'd been. I think it was official that I'd become an even bigger dick. I pulled Caroline into a hug and tried to whisper soothing things to her; but her tears just didn't seem to stop.

I couldn't believe all the history that she had with the Lockwood family. It must have been so hard for her having to do this job, and yet she'd done it anyway, and I imagined that she hadn't brought up the fact that she'd been with Tyler Lockwood because she knew we would have discouraged her from having anything to do with Mason. And ultimately, without Caroline on this job then things may have gone considerably different; things with her and Mason may have ended badly, but she'd had him hanging on her every word right from the beginning.

I cradled Caroline in my arms and pulled back the bed sheets; I laid her down and covered her up.

"Thanks Klaus." Caroline muttered, before rolling over and rapidly going to sleep; she'd had a rough day and I didn't want to leave her alone. I thought about it for a couple of seconds, but then I tugged off my shoes and pulled of my jacket and climbed in beside her. I was worried that Caroline may object, but as I settled down Caroline moved towards my body; I wrapped one arm around her and got comfortable.

"Night love…" I murmured to her sleeping figure.

**Bonnie's POV**

I'd decided to get up early this morning. I'd already showered, dressed and eaten, yet none of the others were up yet.

We'd stayed up celebrating pretty late last night and we'd all had a lot to drink; we had definitely deserved it though. Mason was now completely and utterly broke, I was pretty sure we had every penny that he owned.

We'd sorted out all of the money and placed it into a safe that Niklaus had hidden away, but we hadn't touched any of the many pieces of paper that Mason had filed away in his safe that we had taken anyway. I was pretty curious to investigate what all the documents were, they must be something valuable because why else would Mason lock them in a safe?

I made my way into the living room; I didn't bother about being quite, after all the alcohol they had consumed last night, I didn't need to worry about waking them up… they would be sleeping like the dead.

I picked up the document wallet that we'd left on the table and I sat down on the couch, I grabbed a drink and switched on the TV. I decided to multi-task, I'd missed last night's episode of Vampire Diaries and knew that it would be repeated this morning. I flicked through the file whilst keeping one eye on the TV; it seemed that The Originals were causing trouble on the show once again. Some of my friends thought I was silly watching the show, but sometimes I felt like I could really relate to the characters…

There were many scruffy diagrams and cost graphs compiled into this document; but I still wasn't sure what it was for. Well, that was until I turned the page and came face to face with an equation that did not look good.

It included Lithium, a high percentage of Ethanol, Sulfate and a wide mixture of acids.

I did a double take and looked through the page once more, my eyes flicking over the diagrams as they suddenly made sense. I rapidly picked up my glass and placed it on the table; I needed to keep this folder in perfect condition. I straightened out the pages and had a quick flick through the rest of it; I really couldn't believe what I was seeing… I'd never, ever seen anything like this before.

I wasn't quite sure what to do, I decided that I needed to wake the others up and ask them their opinion. I ran down the corridor to their rooms, my palms sweating and my throat dry, still not quite able to believe what I'd discovered.

"Guys, get up now!" I shouted in the middle of the hallway, I decided to save time and yell, rather than having to go from room to room. I heard some mumbles and grunts of protest.

"Get up! I mean it; this is an emergency!" I exclaimed once more.

I paced back to the kitchen and retrieved a massive pan from the cupboard; I grabbed a heavy duty looking wooden spoon too. I made my way back to outside the room and beat the wooden spoon against the pan; it definitely had the desired effect, I was creating such a racket there was no way they could go back to sleep now.

Klaus came storming out of Caroline's room, and the others followed from their rooms in quick succession.

"Bonnie, what the hell is wrong with you!" Elena exclaimed loudly whilst rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah seriously, I didn't get to sleep until late and you choose to wake me up at this hour!" Matt said grumpily.

I didn't have time to deal with all their moaning.

"Ohmygod! Will you all please just shut the hell up and sit down on the couch; I need to show you something!" I said pleadingly; the others must have finally realized that I was being serious, and that there was a genuine problem.

Caroline was the first to relent, she made her way over to the couch and sat herself down.

"Come on guys; we're up now, we may as well listen to what Bonnie has to say." She said matter-of-factly, and slowly, the others followed. They still didn't do it quickly enough for my liking.

Once they were all sat down I went over to the table and grabbed the file, my hands shaking slightly.

I wasn't sure who to show it to first, so I decided to explain generally to all of them.

"Well, I got up early and decided to flick through some of those files we grabbed from Mason's safe along with the money. At first, I was looking at the costing's and diagrams, and wasn't quite sure what I was looking at, but then I found this equation…" I flicked over the page and showed it to each of them in turn.

They all still looked reasonably confused, but Stefan spoke up.

"Um, well… I'm not sure what all of that means, but I know that all of those chemicals mentioned there are dangerous." He said diplomatically.

I nodded and looked round at the others, they seemed to grasp the idea that they were dangerous chemicals too.

"Okay, so Mason has a file with a list of dangerous substances in; what's the big deal?" Matt asked confused.

I took a deep breath before continuing my explanation.

"…Because this whole folder is a plan for a new drug. A new drug that Mason is going to be putting out on the streets as a brand new recreational drug; but anyone who takes this will be dead in a matter of days!" I stated, feeling pretty shaken up.

The others stared at me shocked, their eyes widening and their expressions becoming ones of horror.

"Bonnie; I'm sure Mason and his minions will discover that this drug is dangerous before they put it out on the streets." Stefan said, trying to dissolve the tense atmosphere.

I shook my head exasperatedly; they still didn't seem to understand.

"No Stefan, they've already started the drug trials; they've already tested it and they've documented all their results. They are _deliberately _modifying this drug to cause optimum damage, and from these notes it seems that it is proving fatal to virtually every person they've trialed it on. "

"Oh shit." Was all that Matt stated; it was obvious that he couldn't find anything else to say.

"Yes '_Oh shit'_, if Mason gets this drug manufactured in bulk and gets it out on the street, he will have created one of the most dangerous and effective weapons in the drugs industry." I exclaimed.

I saw that all their faces had visibly paled, and Elena's was looking positively green.

"So you're telling us that if Mason had that folder he'd have the recipe to produce a drug with catastrophic effects." Klaus asked.

"No Klaus, this folder is only the photocopy of the documents. What I'm telling you is Mason _has _the blueprints to create this weapon."

"Ohmygod…" Caroline muttered whilst the others were lost for words. I sat myself down on the couch beside the others whilst Klaus stood up and began pacing the room.

**Klaus's POV**

For several minutes they all sat in silence whilst I debated our options. Finally, I decided what we had to do.

"We're going to need a new plan, we're going to take down Mason completely, we're going to destroy every single one of his laboratories and make sure that he can never make this drug…" I said seriously.

They all looked at one another, and then nodded back at me in agreement.

"…and we're going to need a bigger team…"

* * *

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	17. New Mikaelson in town

**Klaus's POV**

They all looked at me in agreement; it seemed as we were very likely to be the only people who knew about what Mason was doing, then it was up to us to solve the problem. And anyway, none of us could go and report this to the authorities seeing as the majority of us were all wanted criminals; I imagined things wouldn't go so well if we turned up at a police station.

"Okay, I'm going to need to get hold of Kol, Elijah and Rebecca." I said out loud, even though I was just talking to myself.

"Well, I've already messaged Jeremy and told him that something huge has happened at that we need his help. He said he'll be here by tomorrow morning." Elena said from the opposite side of the room. I nodded, that was good, Jeremy is a pretty muscular guy, and I knew that we were going to need all the muscle we could get.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea. Stefan; are you going to be able to get your brother to help?" I said turning to face Stefan. I didn't want to sound too desperate, and I definitely wasn't going to contact Damon myself; he was a smug bastard, and I wasn't going to go begging to a guy like him. However, we really did need him, he had some skills which would help us out a lot; a lot more than I care to mention to him.

"I don't know Klaus; you know what my brothers like…" Stefan replied, shaking his head in exasperation. Damon had never been the dependable type to start with, but when he fell for Elena when she was going out with Stefan, things definitely went to shit… I wasn't one to meddle in romantic affairs, but I'd heard that Damon had it bad for Elena, and managed to tempt her away from Stefan. However, it seemed that Stefan had won her back in the end and Damon had left the country. Oh well, we needed both of them for this, so they'd just have to put their history behind them.

"Well… If all these extra people are coming here Klaus, then we're going to need a bigger apartment." Caroline said sensibly.

"Don't worry love, if things get bad we can always share a room." I replied, raising my eyebrow in cheek.

Caroline blushed a violent shade of red before speaking.

"No Klaus, I think it's best if you find us a new apartment… at the rate you and Caroline are going, if you had to share a room, I don't think you would be getting much sleep." Elena said cheekily; I saw Caroline throw her a look of annoyance, and Matt one of contempt; it was obvious that Matt was not happy with the progress that mine and Caroline's relationship had been making.

"Okay then this is the plan: Caroline you are going to find us a new apartment, Stefan you're going to get hold of Damon, I'm going to contact my siblings, Bonnie you are going to read up about the drug Mason is making and Elena, you and Matt are going to distribute the money we stole evenly between us. Okay?" I said trying to take control the situation.

They all nodded in response and went to start their various jobs.

**Caroline's POV**

I wasn't sure what sort of apartment Klaus was looking for, but I figured it was one that could fit all of us in, I decided the first place to look was the local paper.

I grabbed it and started flicking through; the others had vacated the room… I think Matt and Elena were in Klaus's room; Stefan had obviously gone out to start a heated phone conversation with Damon. Bonnie was in the kitchen playing around with some chemicals and Klaus… Well who knows where Klaus was?

I crossed through some adverts which just didn't have enough space, and circled a few possibilities.

"Alright love; how's the property hunt going" Klaus asked as he sat down beside me.

"Ohmygod! " I shouted as I jumped up in fright.

"Something scare you sweetheart?" He asked cheekily.

"Yes Niklaus, you did! It was all quiet and then you sneak up on me! Do you have _any_ idea how many horror movies that happens in?! And let me tell you… things do not end well!" I frowned at him.

"No need to be afraid love; you know I'd never hurt you." Klaus said sincerely.

"You mean except from that time you attacked me when I knocked on your front door? I replied with one eyebrow raised, calling his bluff.

"Well love, firstly I didn't know who the stranger was at my door. Second, I had no idea the person I thought to be a guy was a gorgeous woman like you. And finally, I hadn't gotten to know you yet." Klaus explained, justifying himself and flattering me all at the same time.

I shook my head in disbelief; I think I may be falling for this guy… This ruthless guy that could be so brutal towards others yet so gentle to me. It was confusing, it really was…

"You look conflicted sweetheart; I think you're going to need help with that decision you're trying to make about me…" Klaus said gently, whilst leaning towards me, his eyes focused on my lips. I knew that he was leaning slowly, giving me time to change my mind or pull away if I wanted. A voice in my head was telling me to get as far away from this guy as possible, to not get involved with him, to not complicate things. I however ignored that voice of reason and closed the gap between us. As our lips touched I swear the temperature in the room rose; it started off gentle but then I entwined my hands in his gorgeous dirty blonde hair and his arms went around my waist. He parted my lips with his tongue and the battle for dominance began, he varied the pressure of his tongue, sucked lightly on my lower lip every now and then; and that was when I realized he was a master at this. I guess that he being at least six years older than me definitely meant that he had more experience.

I broke away quickly and backed away; I was breathing heavily and was pretty sure that was the most amazing kiss I was ever going to experience in my life. My chest was heaving and I'm pretty sure I was getting pretty dizzy; it was wrong that Klaus could have that effect on me with just one kiss.

"What's the matter love, am I too much for you to handle?" Klaus asked slyly with a glint in his eye, whilst taking at least two steps towards me for every step that I took back. I kept on backing away, a hungry look had taken over Niklaus's expression, and I knew he was coming back for seconds. My plan of keeping distance between us failed when my back hit the living room wall; there was nowhere else to go. Instead I put on a mocking face and tried to beat Klaus at his own game.

"What do you mean Niklaus? I've had many amazing kisses in my time, and believe me… yours didn't even make the top ten…" I said teasingly, staring intently at him. A menacing look came back onto his face, his eyes shining with anticipation.

"Well sweetheart; I guess I'll just have to try harder…" He replied just as teasingly before pinning me completely against the wall and beginning the sweet torture all over again. He placed kisses all along my collar bone and gradually working his way upwards, when he reached my neck he began sucking, teasingly grazing my neck with his teeth…Man, I knew that was going to bruise, but it was totally worth it… Finally his lips reached mine once more and the power battle began all over again, I however was losing due to the fact he had left me light headed from his previous pursuits.

**Klaus's POV**

I felt Caroline's attempt at dominance begin to dwindle and I took this as my final opportunity to show her that I was no amateur. I pinned her arms against the wall, and a moan escaped her lips as I began kissing her neck once more. Her head fell back and her eyes had gone wide; she freed one of her hands and used it to try and tug my shirt from my body. I released my grip on her so that I could help her remove it; that was when she caught me off guard. She pushed me back viciously onto the couch behind us pinning my arms behind my back as she clambered onto my lap. Whoa… I was not used to not being in control.

She leant up towards me, grazing her teeth against my ear before speaking.

"How do you like it now?" She whispered into my ear; giving me shivers all over.

"I don't know love; things haven't even gotten started yet…" I muttered huskily; when in fact I was enjoying myself immensely.

"Patience love…" She replied, mocking my speech as she pushed her fingers under my shirt and over my chest.

**Caroline's POV**

I ran my hands blissfully over his wonderfully sculpted chest. I was pleased to see that Klaus had flushed a shade of red and was obviously un-used to someone else dominating. I moved my hands downwards towards his belt…

"Care have you - … Ohmygod! What are you doing?" Elena chose that moment to come strolling into the room; her eyes wide as she saw a sight that she was clearly not expecting. Elena's voice brought Bonnie running in too. Her eyes became almost as wide, but then she let out a chuckle.

"Woah; if this is you two just making out, I'm pretty sure when you have sex you're going to like… break a lot of stuff?!" Bonnie stated amused. I took this opportunity to get off of Niklaus and stare around the room. It seemed we had knocked multiple pictures of the walls, knocked over the coffee table and broken a vase. Oops… I felt a blush rising in my cheeks.

"Well, we're going to leave you two to clear up…" Elena said, taking this opportunity for her and Bonnie to vacate the room and leave behind the awkward atmosphere which was beginning to form.

I rolled my eyes at their retreating figures before leaning down to pick up a painting from the floor. It was surprisingly heavy; Klaus came over to help as he saw me struggle.

"Don't be embarrassed love; that was definitely worth the clearing up!" He said cheekily as he placed the other painting back on the wall and straightened up the couch.

I just smiled back at him, unsure of how to respond.

"Oh and by the way love; I think apartment five looks the best." He said sincerely as he picked up the newspaper and placed it into my hands.

"Thanks…" I replied and grabbed the phone from the side to dial the number on the advert, thankful for the distraction.

Klaus took the hint and left the room.

**Klaus's POV**

I went into my room to discover that Matt and Elena had finished distributing the money, and had left a note to say that they'd gone to town to open a bank account in which they could deposit a small amount of money at a time for us to fund our next job.

I laid back on my bed and let my thoughts run free; I wasn't sure what was going on between Caroline and I. One minute she was all over me and the next she seemed to be embarrassed and regretting what we'd done. Maybe she was just a tease? Or maybe she was worried about getting in too deep with a man like me; up until now I'd never regretted having a reputation like mine. I pushed those thoughts to one side, when this job was over Caroline Forbes would be going back to Mystic Falls and I would be going back to Southport, so until then I was fine with us having a bit of fun… even if she was ashamed of me.

**Caroline's POV**

The rest of the day passed reasonably uncomfortably; Klaus and I were once again attempting to avoid one another and Matt was ignoring me. It was obvious that he had heard about what had happened between Klaus and me.

At dinner time Elena cooked something nice and we all sat down at the table; it was the first time today that we'd all been in the same room together. The atmosphere was pretty tense and Elena and Stefan were trying to lighten the mood with some general chat.

That's when we heard a knock at the door; everyone jumped to attention, unsure of what to expect. We all stared around at one another trying to assess who was going to be the one to open it. I gave a sigh of annoyance and rose from my chair.

"I guess I'm going to be the one answering the door then." I said exasperatedly; I saw Klaus about to step in to do it instead, but I beat him to it and paced down the hall to the door. I pulled it opened gradually and came face to face with a casually dressed, handsome man about my age.

"How can I help you?" I asked politely.

The man stepped towards me and captured my hand within his; he lowered his head and placed a kiss lightly onto my fingers.

"Well, darling I can imagine you could help me in many ways, none of them appropriate for me to mention on our first meeting though. I'm Kol Mikaelson and I'm here to help with the job…" The man replied teasingly, closing his hands around mine once more.

"So darling, I've told you my name, but what's yours?" He asked inquisitively.

"Caroline Forbes." I said good naturedly, immediately taking a liking to this guy. He seemed the easy going and fun sort.

"Caroline Forbes?" He repeated carefully, appreciating each letter that he spoke.

"Well Caroline Forbes; I think that you and I are going to be very good friends…" He said teasingly.

"W-why don't you come in?" I said stuttering slightly; this man was too charming for his own good.

I felt a figure approach behind me and a hand placed possessively on my shoulder, before pulling me away from Kol's grasp.

"Hello brother; I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your dirty little hands off my girlfriend." Klaus said sternly from behind me. Kol raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Girlfriend eh?" Kol repeated.

I found myself thinking the very same phrase in my own mind…

…Since when had I become Klaus Mikaelsons girlfriend?...

* * *

**Hey!**

**So I hope you all liked this chapter, sorry that I wasn't as quick as normal to post. **

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews, please continue to read, follow and review… I love to hear what you all think.**

**As for TVD… Ohmygosh… the episode the other day broke my heart! I thought that it definitely needed a bit of Klaroline to make the episode a little less miserable! I can't believe we have to wait 3 weeks for the next episode; it's going to feel like forever!  
Thanks again to everyone who has been reading this story!**

**See you at the next chapter!**


	18. Understanding

**Caroline's POV**

The atmosphere in the apartment was pretty tense; Kol had been introduced to the others, apart from Stefan who he already knew. It was pretty obvious that there was some kind of silent feud going on between the two Mikaelson brothers; and I couldn't help thinking that it might have something to do with me. I'm not being vain or anything, but earlier on Klaus had been saying wonderful things about his brother, but since he had caught Kol flirting with me things had rapidly gone downhill. Around the dinner table they were trying to out-do one another with tales of their various escapades, and I had to admit that Kol was winning; it seems like he is a very daring young man.

Another thing that didn't escape my attention was the fact that Klaus had not left my side all night; he obviously didn't want me making any unsupervised conversation with Kol. In some ways I guess I should have been flattered, but to be honest it was seriously pissing me off. Klaus and I had not defined what this relationship was between us, he had blurted out the world girlfriend without even speaking to me first, and apparently he didn't trust me enough to leave me alone. I didn't quite know what he was up to, but all I knew was I wasn't happy about it...

"So, where am I going to have the pleasure of sleeping tonight? I do hope it's somewhere near you darling..." Kol said smoothly, addressing everyone at the table, yet still singling me out. I felt Niklaus's frame tense beside me and his hands clench into fists; I started to worry he was going to attempt to murder his brother or something. I placed my hand gently on top of his clenched fist trying to comfort him; I may not be that happy with him right now, but he had nothing to worry about when it came down to Kol and me. Kol seemed like a happy-go lucky smooth talker, but ultimately all guys like that are full of bull-shit; I know from experience...

"If you keep on talking like that Kol, it will be outside..." Klaus replied coldly.

"Oh cheer up brother; one can be villainous _and _have a sense of humor you know..." Kol said jokingly.

"You can have Elena's room, and she'll share with me." Stefan spoke quickly, interrupting the argument between the two brothers.

**Klaus's POV**

I was thankful when the time came for bed; I lay back and thought over the recent events that had occurred. Firstly, my brother had arrived. I must admit, I'd been looking forward to his arrival for a long time, the two of us hadn't seen each other in what felt like forever. However, when I'd seen him flirting with Caroline, something had ignited within me, and I couldn't help myself. Then I went and blurted out something about Caroline being my girlfriend; it was a totally tactless move, and now she probably thought I was a possessive freak... she'd probably never even come near me again.

Oh well... what's done is done; I rolled over and closed my eyes, hoping that soon I would fall asleep and be saved from my teasing thoughts.

**Kol's POV**

I awoke to hear people making a lot of noise from the living room. I imagined it was probably my other brother and my sister arriving; I was thankful for that, maybe then finally the tension between Nik and me would dissipate. However, I guess I only had myself to blame, I had baited him. I could tell from the interaction between him and Caroline that there was something between them; well definitely something on his part. Never in my lifetime had I seen Niklaus interested in a girl, so she really must be something special, and one must admit that she is absolutely gorgeous. I however knew that if I wanted to end the tension between my brother and myself then I should stop acting so 'Kol like' (as my sister describes it) around Caroline.

I clambered out of bed and padded through into the living room; everyone was in there, with the addition of Elijah, Rebecca and some other guy who was medium sized and had muscles that I found myself envying.

"KOL! It feels like I haven't seen you in forever!" Explained my sister; she ran towards me and flung her arms around my shoulders, embracing me tightly. I gave a little smirk, she never changed.

"Becca darling, I've missed you too; just not as much as you've missed me apparently." I exclaimed cheekily.

"Now, now Kol; don't upset our sister too much we only just got here." Elijah said, always the voice of reason. He stepped forward and patted me firmly on the back; Elijah being Elijah was obviously too manly for hugs.

"Elijah, it's good to see you!" I replied, returning that manly slap on the back.

I saw the others in the room staring around at us; it seemed that it had finally dawned on them that they were sharing the room with the most notorious family of villains they were ever likely to meet. Well, aside from the fact that Finn was missing because unfortunately he'd met his end a couple of years ago; and Esther and Mikael were off somewhere causing trouble.

"And who may you be?" I asked the guy standing beside Elena, deep in conversation; I knew it was rude to interrupt but I wasn't known for my patience. The man turned and looked me up and down before speaking.

"I'm Jeremy. Jeremy Gilbert. Elena's brother if you hadn't already figured that out…" He said good naturedly, but I could still detect a note of hostility, it seems that he still wasn't quite comfortable with the idea of mixing with our family.

"Well Jeremy Gilbert, It's very nice to meet you and I look forward to doing business together." I said politely; ensuring Niklaus was within hearing distance. I was looking for his approval so it would be good if he could hear me speak so accommodatingly towards this guy.

I ended the conversation and strode over to Stefan on the opposite side of the room.

"Stefan; it's good to see you! Where's that wretched brother of yours?" I asked questioningly; I knew that things were tense between Stefan and Damon and I just loved the drama.

"I'm not sure Kol, I text him the address of the apartment we're moving to, and I just hope that he turns up…But you know what Damon's like." He replied exasperated.

"Yup, Damon will always been Damon…" I said in agreement.

**Klaus's POV**

We'd all packed up our things and sorted the apartment; I was just giving everything a final straighten up in my room when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I recognized the hand immediately; I stood up and turned around.

"Caroline; what can I do for you?" I inquired, keeping my tone steady; I didn't want to let on that I was still concerned about the situation between the two of us.

"Niklaus; I just wanted to let you know that you have no reason to be worried about Kol. I can tell that your brother is a flirty guy who generally gets what he wants, but I want you to know that he will be receiving _nothing_ from me." She said sincerely, stepping forward and leaning up to cup my face in her palm.

I felt my heart quite literally skip a beat; I tried to calm myself, I was Niklaus Mikaelson a criminal mastermind I shouldn't get excited over things like this...Yet… I did…

"Well love, It means a lot that you think I needed some kind of reassurances, but I'll have you know I'm just fine." I replied awkwardly; I knew the minute the words came out my mouth that it was the wrong thing to say. She'd just wanted to straighten things out with me and I'd basically just shrugged off what she'd said.

"Fine then Niklaus; I see how it is." She said coldly and began to turn away.

"No sweetheart wait; I didn't mean to say that…" I said grabbing her arm quickly and turning her to face me.

"Well then Klaus, what _did_ you mean to say? Because I'm absolutely sick of tip-toeing around you, I'm not quite sure about what's happening between us. Are we together? Are we not together? Are we just having fun? Or am I your _girlfriend_, because that's what you specifically said to your brother!" Caroline exclaimed exasperatedly, throwing her arms up in the air, and I'm pretty sure she may have even stamped her foot. I felt a smirk beginning to form on my face, but I forced it away; but bloody hell she was cute when she's angry.

"Hmm… to be honest love, we need to be getting on with the job in hand; and we can't have our emotions getting in the way. I say we don't put a label on what we have and just enjoy ourselves." I said honestly, hoping that it was the right sort of thing she wanted to hear.

**Caroline's POV**

I nodded at Klaus's reasoning; I had given him an ultimatum and he had answered honestly. Let's just say that how he'd responded wasn't exactly the romantic thing that a girl would want to hear; but to be honest I wasn't just any girl and his response had been perfect. We both understood one another; we both wanted to get this job done and then leave the country and live our lives without worrying about the authorities. Neither of us wanted our emotions to compromise this job, and I'm pretty sure we could re-evaluate the state of our relationship once we had completed our work.

"Okay then Niklaus; from now on we're just friends. Let's go tell the others we're ready to move to the new apartment. The sooner we get this job started, the quicker we can be out of this." I replied sincerely.

A cheeky smile broke across Klaus's features before he spoke: "Well the love, friends it is; but what I want to know is… will those friends have any benefits?" he asked with a teasing twinkle in his eye.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out…" I said copying his teasing tone and going along with it.

"Okay sweetheart, we'd better go and join the others before I become tempted to force the answer out of you!" He said with a wink, before picking up his bags and making his way towards the door.

**Klaus's POV**

We all met back in the main room, everyone with their bags over their shoulders. I realized that we'd have to sort out the travel arrangements. I decided that it was time for me to take charge of the situation.

"Okay; Bonnie, Elena and Jeremy you will be travelling in Matt's truck. Stefan and Kol you will be coming with me in my car, Becca you will be going in Elijah's car just how you got here; and Caroline you can throw your stuff into my car and take your bike. Is everyone happy with those arrangements?"

I got nods from each person and I smiled, glad that we were ready to take the next step towards finishing this job.

"Bonnie have you got those documents of Mason's?"

"Of course I have, I won't let them leave my side!" She said half offended whilst rolling her eyes at me.

"Okay then, I guess we'll all see one another again when we get there…" I replied before taking Caroline's things and making my way towards the door.

* * *

**Hey everyone!**

**I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to update but I've been studying for exams and have had a major case of writers block! **

**Unfortunately this is just a filler chapter; but don't worry more exciting things shall be happening shortly!  
I'd just like to say a great big thank you to everyone who has been taking the time to review this story; it means a lot to me that you are all interested in my fan-fic.**

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**Thanks again!**


	19. Phase 1

**Caroline's POV**

We arrived at the new apartment pretty quickly seeing as it was only about fifteen or so miles from the last one. It was virtually exactly the same with the addition of extra bedrooms. As soon as we arrived we all chose our rooms unpacked our things and re-convened back in the living room. It seemed I was the slowest, because as I reached the living room everyone was already clustered around the large table talking and Stefan was tapping away rapidly on his laptop.

"Good Caroline, you've arrived. We can start preparing for tonight then..." Bonnie said as she laid out the plans on the table before us all.

They were all pretty intricate and it seemed that it was only Bonnie who could make sense of the many scrawling's that decorated the pages.

"As you are our expert Bonnie, it seems that you should talk us through what our next step is." Klaus said diplomatically, but obviously not pleased with the fact that he had to take a backseat at this stage.

"Okay. So these plans have mentioned the name of the inventor of this drug, but only states a few of the laboratories. What we have to do is track down the man that created this, find out where the rest of the labs are and destroy them all." Bonnie explained carefully.

"Even if we destroy all of those plans and the laboratories Mason can just have his inventor make new ones." Stated Kol, voicing what everyone in the room was obviously thinking.

Bonnie pulled a face of annoyance and paused to think about what she was going to say before speaking: "I know, and I know some of you will be against what I am about to say, but we're going to have to kill him. The inventor I mean; there's no way he can be left running around free. I know that some of you don't like killing, but this guy is obviously bad and if we let him go he will just find a brand new way to terrorize people." She explained with a pained expression on her face; I knew that Bonnie didn't like to kill people unless it was absolutely necessary, and neither did I; but this time it really did seem necessary. I agreed with Bonnie completely, if this guy was to go free he'd just create some new drug that could potentially cause even more trouble.

"We can't kill him; it's just not right!" Elena exclaimed from the other end of the table. She was my best friend and all, but sometimes she just didn't seem to understand when things had to be done. No one in the room responded to her and an awkward silence fell upon us. But then Klaus's voice rang out.

"How stupid are you? This is a bad person, a person who could potentially kill millions of people and you're actually suggesting we keep him alive?" Niklaus said obviously irritated.

"I'm sorry but it's not this guy's fault that he's gotten involved with Mason Lockwood!" Replied Elena attempting to justify her opinion.

I saw that Klaus was obviously going to say something very offensive in response to her comment, so I cut in quickly anxious to prevent the argument before it broke out.

"Elena, everyone knows about Mason's reputation, and he would have known this before doing business with him. And anyway this man is the creator of that drug that Bonnie says is the most lethal thing she has ever seen. So I think it's safe to say that he'd be getting what he deserves." I tried to say as nicely as I could; however I too thought that Elena was getting too caught up in her morals.

"Yes but that doesn't mean we have to lower ourselves to his level to beat him an-.." Then someone interrupted.

"Enough is enough Elena, everyone is obviously in agreement that this guy has to go in order for the rest of the plan to go smoothly and potentially save lives, if you can't agree to this then you'd better leave now..." A voice stated from the back of the room.

We all turned to see Damon Salvatore leaning against the wall in the corner; he had obviously suck in whilst we were all debating.

"Ah Damon; so it seems you decided to grace us with your presence after-all." Klaus mocked as he paced towards him and slapped him on the back good naturedly. It made me wonder how many people Klaus really did know.

"Yeah, I got bored and I figured I didn't have anything better to do..." He replied sarcastically.

Then he turned and noticed me.

"Blondie! It's been forever!" He strode over to me and pulled me into a hug. I frowned; Damon and I had been an item a long while back, and things hadn't ended so well. We hadn't been on good terms since then.

"Um... hey Damon; why are you being so friendly?" I inquired trying not to sound too rude.

He pulled away from me but still had one arm slung around my shoulders.

"Well I heard you had a job go wrong in Vegas and I didn't know whether you'd got caught up with the wrong people, got killed or in trouble with the authorities!" He said seriously; it made me smile slightly to know that he'd been worried about me.

"You could have called if you were that worried Damon." I said simply, trying not to show how much his words had affected me.

"Well Blondie, don't you remember telling me to never ever call you or come near you again?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes at him.

"That was a long, long, _long_ time ago Damon; I think we can forgot about everything that has happened. And if you thought I was dead then you definitely should have called, you jerk!" I said good naturedly punching him on the shoulder.

Bonnie voice cut in…

"This is why you two never worked out as a couple, you've only been in the same room for about two minutes and already you're arguing!" Exclaimed Bonnie.

"Yeah, but the sex was great..." Replied Damon cheekily. I felt my cheeks flush bright red and I punched him once again, except this time... a lot harder...

"DAMON! You are so embarrassing!" I shouted annoyed, as I threw a glance over in Klaus's direction and saw his facial expression. It seemed that once again he was jealous; first over Kol and now over Damon, man that guy really must have confidence issues; did he really not see that he was like 100% more gorgeous than them. (Well... Damon and Kol were pretty gorgeous, but in my opinion Klaus was definitely hotter... it was the stubble that did it for me...)

"What I was just saying it was great? Did you want me to lie and say it was awful?" Damon said mock innocently.

"No Damon, I would prefer it if you didn't mention our past sex life at all!" I said shaking my head in disbelief. Man, he could be such a dick.

"Okay, okay, we seem to have gotten a bit off track; I would appreciate it if you would all just let Bonnie continue speaking." Stefan said as he looked up from his laptop screen. Everyone nodded in agreement and turned back to Bonnie.

"Right as I was saying: Stefan's just tracked down the man. This is him..." She turned the screen around so we could all see."

I felt my eyes widen.

"No way."

Everyone turned to stare at me.

"What's the matter Caroline?" Niklaus inquired worriedly.

"That's Alaric Saltzman; millionaire who I attempted to rob a while back in Vegas and things went bad. The job that went wrong and Tyler Lockwood fixed things for me. Ohmygod; Tyler fixed things by getting Alaric a job working with his Uncle and making Mason a ton of money at the same time. All that time I was with Tyler he'd made out to me like he'd only just gotten out alive trying to fix my mess, yet he was in business with Alaric the whole time. I pretended to be his girlfriend all that time in order to repay him and yet he hadn't really done anything for me other than help himself!" I exclaimed, my body physically shaking with anger. I felt Niklaus place a hand on my arm, I shook it off quickly.

"Get off me!" I explained venomously. Knowing that I just had to get out of this room, get some fresh air. I ran out of the living room, out down the corridor and to the front door. I flung it open and felt the cool air hit me. I sat down on the bench by the door and took in some deep breaths trying to calm myself down.

I placed my head in my hands and felt tears forming.

**Klaus's POV**

I tried to concentrate on the rest of the conversation that was going on in the room; it seemed that the plan for tonight didn't concern me anyway. I tapped my toes in anticipation; not knowing whether to go to Caroline or not. When I'd tried to soothe her earlier she'd rejected my attempts and I wasn't sure whether she'd had enough time alone yet. I felt Kol's presence by my side.

"I'd go to her if I were you brother; from the looks of things she seems like she needs comforting." He whispered sensibly. I nodded, took his advice and made my way to the door. I opened it to see Caroline sitting on the bench opposite sobbing into her hands.

I sat down beside her without a word and placed my arms around her shoulders, pulling her into my embrace. She turned her face against my shirt, and I felt it moisten with her tears. I knew that she would speak to me when she was ready so I gently stroked her hair and cheek trying to calm her.

"I-I-it's all my fault Niklaus." She sobbed almost incoherently.

"No it isn't sweetheart; none of this is your fault." I said soothingly.

She pushed herself away from my chest and wiped some tears from her cheeks.

"No you don't seem to understand. This _is_ my fault; if I hadn't gotten into trouble with Alaric all that time ago then Tyler and Alaric never would have met, therefore Alaric would never have been introduced to Mason Lockwood. And if they had never met then Mason would never have had access to the drugs Alaric was creating. Every death caused by that damn drug is blood on my hands. Blood on my hands for being such a pathetic fool attempting to con a man who was blatantly smarter than me." I could feel Caroline begin to tremble once again and her cheeks redden in anger with herself. The only good thing that had come of this was that it didn't seem like she was going to cry again.

"Sweetheart, sometimes things like this happen. You didn't deliberately introduce Tyler to Alaric did you; Tyler took it upon himself to help you out, even if he was going to blackmail you afterwards. And anyway; Tyler and Alaric were in the same Casino, even if you hadn't been there they would have most likely met anyway. You can't blame yourself for this; the only thing you can do is face up to what has happened and help us fix this. Mason Lockwood is going to be left with nothing, and we're going to kill Alaric; there will be nothing tying you to either of them and you'll finally be able to move on. It seems to me that this has been holding you back for a long time, and now finally you can face it. And we can face it together." I said honestly as I clasped her hand within mine and stared sincerely at her.

She smiled back at me and squeezed my hand.

"You know what? I don't think I've ever cried so much in my life compared to how much I have in the space of a week…This job has _not _been good for my reputation!" She said with a laugh, obviously trying to change the topic of conversation.

"If it makes you feel any better sweetheart; I just love a girl who shows her emotions and enjoys hand-to-hand combat." I said cheekily winking at her and pulling her in for a quick hug.

She rose from the bench and pulled me with her.

"I think we'd better get inside before people start wondering what we've been up to." She said teasingly.

**Bonnie's POV**

Caroline and Niklaus came back and joined us in the living room. I informed them on what was happening tonight.

"Rebecca, Kol and I are all going out to get Alaric; Stefan has tracked down where he is likely to be tonight. We are going to capture him and ask him _very _nicely where all the laboratories are." I said innocently.

"So basically we're going to capture him, tie him up and beat the shit out of him and until he tells us what we want to know… And then we're going to kill him…" Kol said mockingly, I saw Elena pale beside him whilst listening to his words.

I shook my head at him; man… that guy really did not know what was appropriate to say out loud and what wasn't.

"Yes Kol; that is probably what's going to happen." I said simply.

Klaus nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like a pretty good plan to me. What's happening once we get the locations?" He inquired.

"Stefan's going to make some computer tracking thingy and mark all the laboratories and then tomorrow we are going to take them down one by one and destroy everything that Alaric and Mason have been working for." I said gleefully; obviously looking forward to causing havoc.

"I like it; I like it a lot…" Was all that Klaus replied mischievously.

**Caroline's POV**

It had been a long day and I excused myself from the others, wanting nothing other than a nice hot shower and a good night's sleep. Bonnie, Kol and Rebecca were all out carrying out what they called 'Phase 1' of the mission, and I had to admit that I was glad I had no part in it. The others were clustered in the kitchen, some of them speaking on the communication devices and Stefan once again working on his laptop.

I entered the bathroom, turned on the shower and slowly began removing my clothes. I hung the towel up on the rail and climbed in. The warm water on my body felt glorious and I felt my muscles loosen. It was blissful; I reached for the soap to discover that someone else had already grabbed it.

"Klaus?" I asked with a furrowed brow.

"The door was open love; I took it as an invite..." He said cheekily, climbing in to join me.

I couldn't help but stare at his beautifully toned body; I'd only seen parts of it before, but now I was finally getting the full picture…and it was _perfect._

He lathered the soap up in his hands and massaged it into my shoulders and down the sides of my body, over the curve of my hip, my stomach and everywhere else. I leaned back against the shower wall letting him continue, too tired to do anything else. His soapy hands left my body and his lips made contact with my stomach, my breasts, shoulders, neck and any other skin that was in sight. I felt a moan escape my lips as he continued. He pressed his body closer to mine and I knew what was going to happen next; I pulled myself away from the wall and pushed him away by his shoulders.

"Not tonight Niklaus…" I said quietly, before grabbing the shampoo bottle and beginning to wash my hair. He nodded slowly at me before following suit; it wasn't that I didn't want to have sex with him, because hell yes of course I did. It was just the fact that I didn't want it to be tonight; after all that had happened I just wanted to sleep; and I knew it would be worth the wait.

Once we had both finished washing, Niklaus turned off the shower, pulled back the curtain and stepped out. He grabbed a towel from the side and wrapped it gently around me, before getting another one and drying my face, shoulders and arms with it. I smiled slightly at him as he stood naked before me; he must have been freezing, but he saw to it that I was dry before getting a towel for himself.

I followed him into his room and knew that even if we weren't going to have sex that both of us would just like to enjoy the company and closeness. He tugged on some pants and a shirt and I put on my pajamas. We both went back into the bathroom and brushed our teeth before climbing into bed; I was so tired that I was pretty sure I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow; however, I still noticed how he tucked me in and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead.

_How did this man, a wanted criminal, manage to be so gentle and loving, yet so dangerous at the same time? _

**Hey guys!**

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**I decided to update two days in a row to make up for the fact it took me so long to publish the previous chapter.**

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**See you at the next chapter, and thanks again!**


	20. Alaric Saltzman

**Caroline's POV**

I awoke when Niklaus was still sleeping and decided that I would get a head start, I didn't want him to see my 'first thing in the morning look'; well, I guess he had already seen it, but now that things between us had developed I was feeling a bit insecure all over again.

I snuck quietly out of his room and walked over to mine which was conveniently opposite, I grabbed some clothes, removed my pajamas and slipped them off. I then tied my hair up into a very practical topknot and pulled on some slippers to keep my feet nice and warm.

Once dressed, I exited my room and made my way across the hall and into the living room. However, what I came face to face with was something that I did not expect.

"What the hell!" I screeched out as I took in the sight before me; Kol, Bonnie, Rebecca and Damon all turned their heads towards me with apologetic expressions on their faces.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me..." I rasped out, still shocked at what I was seeing.

In the center of the living room, tied to a chair placed on a rug which was once white, but was now inconveniently stained red was Alaric Saltzman; bounded, gagged and looking very worse for wear. I stared at his lip which was split in multiple places, the bruising and swelling of both of his eyes and his face in general, the bruised arms, neck and every other piece of skin in sight.

"You guys are actually having a laugh right?" There's no way you actually brought Alaric _fucking_ Saltzman into this apartment!" I screamed at them; alerting his presence to the others in the apartment. I saw Bonnie wince, it was apparent she was hoping to keep his being here quiet for a while longer.

"Why the hell is he here! Did you deliberately want to torture me; I promise you that this man is nothing but trouble!" I exclaimed, still unable to control the words that were tumbling from my mouth. My outbursts also brought Matt, Jeremy, Stefan, Elena, Elijah and Niklaus out here. From the expressions on their faces they must have also gone to bed before the others arrived home with their uninvited _guest. _

"Kol, Becca, what the bloody hell do you think you're doing!" Niklaus shouted; obviously uncomfortable with the circumstances.

"Woah brother; don't take it all out on us; Bonnie and Damon are also involved with this if you haven't noticed." Kol muttered blatantly pissed off.

Klaus shook his head in disbelief ignoring his brother's previous statement and continuing to stare at the man currently tied up in our living room.

"Seriously guys; he's meant to be dead right now..." Exclaimed Matt tactlessly as Elena hit him on the shoulder.

Bonnie rose uneasily from the couch; straightening out her frame and obviously preparing herself for a ton of abuse.

"Listen guys; I can explain to you why he's here if you just give me a second." She said diplomatically. However, her words were interrupted by a series of muffled noises that Alaric was making through his gag. Bonnie strode over towards him and began untying his gag.

"It seems that Alaric would like to tell you himself..." She said quietly as she released him.

I stared over at Bonnie in disbelief; I couldn't believe she'd actually completely un-bound this guy; he was bad! His presence was definitely bad news for us... wasn't it?"

Alaric opened his mouth to speak, but winced as the movement re-opened the cut on his lip and blood began flowing.

"Ohmygosh; I'm going to get the medical kit, your story is just going to have to wait I'm afraid Mr Saltzman." Said Elena worriedly, with a strangely polite tone to her voice. Did she seriously just call him _Mr. Saltzman?_ No way, that made him sound like some teacher of authority figure, and there was no way that this man could ever be that.

I shook my head once again and strode over to Alaric; I struck him hard around the face, causing his eyes to widen and his cut to bleed further.

"You know what that was for; you're lucky I didn't wait until after she'd stitched you up... it would have been way more painful..." I muttered into his ear. His eyes widened in understanding and he nodded slowly once, the movement obviously causing him pain as the action made him wince.

I went back and stood beside Niklaus once more, I felt him grasp my hand within his and give it a gentle squeeze before releasing it. I was thankful that I had the moral support that I knew I was definitely going to need.

**Elena's POV**

I ran and grabbed the first aid kit; I could feel Caroline's eyes staring daggers into my back. I knew her and this man had had their difference but I couldn't continue to let him bleed like that. First I picked up some gauze, ran it under some warm water and rubbed it gently against the man's tender skin, I saw the tension in his body, and that was how I knew it hurt... _a lot. _

The others just stood around and watched whilst I did my best to help Alaric, and it was driving me crazy; didn't they have anything else to do other than stare and gape at '_silly Elena Gilbert's obvious compassion'._

"For god-sake guys, don't just stand around here acting like absolute fools. Someone go and get me one of the morphine injections from the top cupboard in the bathroom!" I exclaimed. I figured I may as well put them to work. I pulled a needle and thread from the kit and began attempting to thread the needle.

Bonnie made her way over to me and placed one hand on top of mine, before removing the needle from my grip.

"I'm the medical student here 'Lena, let me do this." She said simply. I nodded, stood and let her take over.

"I've got the medication!" Said Rebecca proudly as she strode into the room. She handed the needle to Bonnie who gently undid the man's shirt and ran her fingers along the man's ribcage before finding a suitable spot. She then removed the needle from the packaging and prepared it.

"It seems Alaric that you have several broken ribs; this is just going to ease the pain." She said before promptly pinching some of the skin and inserting the needle. The man's brows furrowed momentarily but his facial expression soon relaxed once it was done.

Bonnie then reached up and began stitching the deep cuts around his eyebrows, lips and chin. The process took a while but eventually it was done. Bonnie packed up her things before moving out of the way so Stefan and Damon could ease the man gradually onto the couch so he could get some sleep.

When he finally fell asleep we all moved into the kitchen and heated conversation quickly followed.

"What the _hell _are you playing at?" Screamed Caroline; that guy is meant to be dead. He was meant to give us the laboratory locations and then you were meant to kill him. He is a bad guy; he created that drug remember, why the hell have you left him alive!" She continued, her face flushing bright purple in anger.

**Damon's POV**

I decided that it was my moment to step in.

"Alaric here isn't all the he seems and not all that you think he is…" I said to Caroline simply, placing a hand on her arm trying to cool her down; but she shook it off viciously. Well, it wasn't like I expected anything different, after all we did date.

"Do you seriously not understand what I'm saying; 24 hours ago we were all in agreement that this guy was bad, because he _is_! And here you all are now helping him and defending him!" Caroline continued furiously.

It seemed that it was Bonnie's turn to speak.

"No guys you don't get it; Alaric here although he is also a criminal, just like us; got caught up with Mason Lockwood and all his bad associates because he was blackmailed. Just like you Caroline he was screwed over by the Lockwood family and he also wants to get revenge. For some reason they made Alaric, who is a fully qualified bio-chemist by the way, create that drug for them against his will. He was used just how the Lockwood's use everybody…" She said carefully.

**Caroline's POV  
**suddenly it did seem to make sense. It had never occurred to me that Alaric could potentially be innocent too. Just like me, an average professional criminal who got involved with the wrong people. I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling and let out a vicious breath. As much as I hated to admit it, this guy could potentially be innocent. After what went down in Vegas I was obviously going to be bitter about this guy, and that would never change; but that didn't mean that we couldn't work this job together.

"Fine…" I muttered quietly.

"Let's just wait until he wakes up and you can all hear what he has to say…" Kol said sensibly. (Kol, _sensible? _That was a shock!)

"Okay…" We replied in unison. Too defeated to bother arguing.

**Alaric's POV**

I awoke to discover a large amount of people all clustered around a table, with each of their gazes focused on my figure; it seemed that they had been waiting for me to awake for a pretty long time.

However, the very first thing that I noticed was the familiar blonde haired girl. I couldn't recall the name, but I remembered the job that I'd been trying to pull off back in Vegas. I'd smartened myself up, stole some money and bought myself into the most elite casino in Vegas; my only target being: Find an easy target and con them for all the money they had. However, the one problem that I had was that the beautiful blonde woman I chose to target; was the one that was before me right now. Happened to be running exactly the same con, she'd dressed up smart, stole money and also bought her way into the Casino; and similarly to what I had done she had chosen me as her target. The problem with that was it rapidly became apparent that the two of us, two criminals, were trying to con one another. That was when things got ugly and her boyfriend Tyler Lockwood had gotten involved and things had turned nasty. I knew the Lockwood's were a notoriously evil family; but I had never really understood how much until then.

"Um, thanks for patching me up…" I rasped out quietly, slowly pulling myself into a seated position and discovering it was very painful.

"You're welcome, but I think it's time you explained to us exactly what's going on…" Elena replied politely.

"You want the story right from the beginning?" I inquired.

"Yes; we definitely want the story from the start!" Exclaimed the familiar blonde.

"Okay then. After our little incident in Vegas young lady, I had the pleasure of meeting that disgusting individual Tyler Lockwood who introduced me to his Uncle Mason Lockwood who was even worse. Mason somehow knew that I was a bio-chemist and threatened the life of my girlfriend Jenna unless I created an 'unbeatable' lethal street drug for him. I tried to find my way out of it but everyone knows that Mason is an evil guy. Last night, when your people came after me; I'd already had a run in with some of Mason's minions who took it upon themselves to beat me senseless to remind me of who I worked for. Luckily, your people arrived and helped me out and now my allegiances lie with you. I know that you're taking Mason down and I want to be part of it." I said honestly, hoping that after all this they weren't going to turn me away.

**Niklaus's POV**

This guy seemed almost too good to be true. Was it really pure convenience that Kol and the others had just strolled in as things had gotten bad?

"What do you think you can offer us? Why should we let you join our team?" I inquired, attempting to make the man squirm and to try and detect any holes in his story.

"Well; I have the map to where all the laboratories are, I have all of the drug formulas at my office; and you can trick Mason into thinking that you kidnapped me. You can arrange an exchange with him, and it will be a perfect time for you to kill him. Can't you see that I'm going to be a major asset to you?" He exclaimed; and I've got to say he seemed pretty sincere. Even Caroline looked convinced, and if she was convinced then so was I.

"Okay then; you're in, when you feel comfortable enough to stand go and find yourself a spare room and settle in. We are going to re-convene later to discuss our next step."

"Thanks, thank you so much!" Alaric said sighing, obviously thankful to finally see a way out of Mason's grasp.

"Welcome to the team Alaric; don't let us down…" Was all I said as I strode from the room.

_I had a feeling Alaric was going to help us make this job a whole lot easier... _

**Hello!**

**First I would just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has being reading, following and reviewing; it's great to know that you're interested in my ideas.**

**Next, I'm sorry about the complete lack of Klaroline in this chapter but I'm trying to set the scene before the action begins again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and weren't too disappointed. **

**Thanks!**


	21. Bonding

**Caroline's POV**

"So there's something I really want to know; what really did happen between the two of you in Vegas?" Kol inquired loudly from the other side of the table, between sips of bourbon; we'd decided after all of the drama that had gone down that we definitely needed something stronger than tea.

I rolled my eyes and stared over at Alaric who was sitting opposite. It was so surprising that only after speaking to him for a matter of hours I already knew that I liked him. He'd been beaten to a pulp by Mason's men and then stitched up by people who had intended on beating information out of him, so let's just say after all that, considering he was able to laugh and joke around, you definitely knew he was a good guy. It seemed like he had a great sense of humor too; he was a couple of years older than Elijah so it felt like we had a sort of authority figure around, someone to help lead us; not such a good thing for Niklaus though, he liked to be in control.

"Do you want to tell the story or shall I?" I asked Alaric exasperatedly, knowing that it was going to be an embarrassing story for the both of us. His expression matched mine, and he nodded in my direction as if to say 'go ahead'.

Everyone around the table subconsciously leaned inwards, you could tell that they had all been waiting to hear what had happened.

"Seriously guys; the story really isn't that interesting." Alaric said with a smirk on his face.

"Shh... We don't' care; we just want to know what happened. Come on and tell us the story Caroline!" Exclaimed Stefan.

"Okay, okay. Basically Alaric and I were both in Las Vegas for the same purpose: To find someone rich and con them out of their money. Unfortunately, it turned out that we both picked one another as our mark, and about forty minutes after talking to one another it became very apparent that we were trying to con one another, and then it got very awkward. Things from there onwards went downhill; Alaric got angry, I got angry, I told Tyler and you know what happened from then." I said simply.

"That was very, very, very... _boring..._" Stated Kol in a miserable tone of voice.

"I thought there was going to be some kind of kinky love affair between the two of you; such a disappointment..." Kol continued cheekily.

"Let's just say that I wasn't disappointed mate, Caroline was _very_ persuasive trying to con me." Alaric said with a teasing look in his eye.

I looked down at the floor, embarrassed once again... I gave Alaric a mock punch of the arm.

"What can I say? If you're conning a man and you have boobs... you may as well use them!" I exclaimed, brushing off my embarrassment.

Bonnie, Elena and Rebecca all nodded in agreement.

"It's so true; they are the best weapon ever!" Added Rebecca laughing.

"Ugh, sister; I do not want to know about you using boobs to get your way..." Kol added; the mention of his sister suddenly putting him off the topic.

All us girls burst into laughter whilst the others stared around awkwardly.

Matt, who was seated beside me, decided to break the silence.

"Well let's just say Caroline's boobs definitely worked on Mason..." He stated. Unfortunately, seeing as how close I was seated to him, I heard the 'and Niklaus' that he muttered at the end of his sentence. I chose to ignore it however, because one had to admit, it probably was a bit true...

**Alaric's POV**

We'd collected the plans that I had locked away at my apartment. Whilst I was there I grabbed some of my stuff that I would need for my stay here; however, I didn't take too much and once we had taken the essentials we threw a pile of things onto the floor and broke a few things. I took this task so seriously I even cut my arm and smeared blood up the wall; the scene had to be as authentic as possible otherwise Masons men would not believe that I had been kidnapped, and that is what we needed them to think.

"Okay Ric; I'm pretty sure you've made the place authentic enough…" Elena had said as I cut myself for the fourth time.

"Sorry, but I need this to work; we all need this plan to work otherwise Mason will continue to plague all of our lives forever…" I replied honestly, Elena had nodded her head; it was obvious that she agreed.

Now, as we were all seated around the table I spread out the plans before us all. They contained the official copy of the drug formula, and the blueprints for all of the labs that Mason owned.

Unsure whether to proceed and begin to allocate jobs, or whether to leave it to Klaus, I turned to him to see how he wanted to continue. Both of us knew the plan; we'd had a very in detail conversation earlier and we were definitely making some progress. However, it seemed that my reference to Caroline being _very friendly_ towards me had somehow made him slightly bitter towards me.

"Niklaus, would you like to explain the plan from now onwards?" I inquired.

"Yes." Was all he replied simply before pacing towards me and taking a space beside me. Everyone leaned in a bit closer, eager not to miss a detail in his explanation.

"Okay. We're going to pair up and each target a lab. Rebecca and Damon you will be taking this one, Elena and Jeremy this one, and Bonnie and Matt this one." He explained quickly, as he pointed to the locations on the map.

"How will we be getting there?" Matt interrupted Niklaus as he spoke; something I learned he did not tolerate.

"I'll get to that in a minute Matt…Elijah and Kol you will be targeting this one, and Caroline and I will be taking this one…" He continued gruffly. I noticed how he put himself and Caroline together without a second thought; that was when it occurred to me that there must be something going on between the two of them. Interesting…

**Klaus's POV**

"That was wonderfully delegated Niklaus, but you seemed to have missed me out!" Stefan exclaimed.

"Sorry about that mate, but whilst we're all out there doing our thing someone's got to be back at base keeping tabs on the computer, our progress, and Masons movement. Also, someone's got to say back and keep Alaric Company!" I said diplomatically; I knew that Stefan loved all the technology things, but I also knew he loved a good fight, which unfortunately he was going to have to miss out this time.

Luckily, he nodded good naturedly in response, which was a relief; I couldn't have a falling out with my best-mate and partner in crime before the job got started!

"Anyway, back to the task at hand. The plan is to break into the labs tomorrow and make a statement immediately; one can imagine that at his lab he'll have a ton of workers, so whilst we're there we'll mention to the workers we have Alaric. We'll set up a rendezvous, and then bargain Alaric in exchange for money, so we can all walk away from this deal with even more cash. Oh… and in response to Matts question earlier, there are cars parked in the garage for each of our pairs. When you're ready to leave tomorrow go to the parking lot and grab a car, they all have a key in the ignition. I'm warning you now however, they are all very average, family kind of cars because we don't want to draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves when we're out." I finally finished explaining, it felt like I had been talking for hours.

Everyone around the table noticed, however I did see Caroline's face take on an expression of distaste when I mentioned the _family_ kind of car. Little did she know that I had made an exception for our transport, and let's just say she was going to _love _it…

"Okay then, I'm going to upload all of the locations onto my laptop and then forward directions onto everyone's cell phones. When you get into the vicinity of the lab your 'dot' should flash on my screen to alert me to your actions, and when you're done at your location, you just have to click the kill switch on the app I'm sending you and then you'll be wiped from my screen. This is a really good system, so you have to make sure you follow it. Back here I will be keeping tabs on everyone, recording how long they've been in the vicinity, if you've been there too long it will alert me to the fact that something has gone wrong and I can send others in after you." Stefan explained simply, it was pretty amazing that he had thought all of that up straight on the spot; I sometimes found myself envying his quick-thinking brain, of course I'd never tell him that. – I'm Niklaus Mikaelson, people wanted to be me, not the other way around…

"That's all very well Stefan but this seems like a very complicated system when all we have to do is alert you to trouble via our ear pieces?" Rebecca queried.

"I know, you all will be wearing earpieces, but if you get captured you don't want to alert your captors that you've got back-up on the way; they'll kill you on the spot. This way, I will be notified of a problem and can send in a team and no one will ever know…" Stefan continued to explain, and I saw Becca's face begin to curve into a smile at his logic.

I felt a bit sorry for her, a long, long, while back she and Stefan had some kind of relationship; she never really shared the details with me, but from what I could tell she fell for him hard and he didn't return the feelings quite as strongly. Hence why he is here with Elena now, and in some massive love triangle with Damon and Elena. Emotions are a person's greatest weakness, I found myself attempting to remind myself as a stole a quick look in Caroline's direction, she was looking gorgeous today…

"Okay, well it seems Stefan is going strong with all his technical business now; so I say we strike tonight. Hit these labs and get away; and come tomorrow morning we'll have the upper hand." Damon said, cutting through everyone's thought processes. I felt a frown cross my features; I didn't like not being in control.

"Yes, Niklaus! That sounds like a great idea; we need to have the upper hand as soon as possible!" Chimed in Elena, stealing a sneaky look at Damon as she agreed with him; I saw a conflicted expression cross his features.

"I agree too." Added Matt.

"And me…" Jeremy continued.

I exhaled loudly, but I knew when I had been beaten; and now seemed like one of those occasions. Better for me to agree than look like a sulky teenager.

"Stefan, will you be ready for us to do this tonight?" I inquired through gritted teeth.

"Hmmm… Well if you all give me your phones now, I have created the software and it should probably only take me about forty minutes to program all of your cell phones…" He explained, obviously leaving me the last word as whether we did this tonight or not.

I stared down at my watch, it read 8:00; I contemplated my options and decided to trust everyone's decision that tonight was our best option.

"Okay then, everyone be ready by 9:00 that's when we leave, get your kit together and anything else you feel is necessary."

**Caroline's POV**

We all split off to go our separate ways; the majority of us going to our rooms to change and pack up some equipment.

I stayed in the living room with Stefan for a while; he informed me that he needed to fine tune my earpiece or something; all I knew was that it had been playing up just lately and it needed sorting. I passed it over to him and he played around with it for about 5 minutes before handing it back to me, apparently fixed.

"There you go Care, as good as new." He said pleasantly.

"Thanks Stef…" I said leaning over and giving him a hug, realizing that since we'd met again I hadn't given him a single hug; what a bad friend I was!

"Thanks for that too Care!" He said laughing as I made my way to the kitchen to grab a drink. I opened up the cupboard to grab a glass and discovered a bar of chocolate; and obviously I couldn't resist. I pulled it out and broke a bit off; I didn't know whose it was, but I figured if I only ate a little bit they wouldn't notice.

I let out a sneaky laugh, grabbed my drink from the side and made my way through to the bathroom where I quickly ran a flannel over my face to freshen up ready for tonight. I then threw on my pajamas that I'd left on the side and padded through into my room, deciding I'd change into my gear a bit later; after all nothing was quite as comfortable as my pajamas!

I took a sip from my glass and pushed the door to my room open and gave a startled jump back when I discovered Niklaus Mikaelson sprawled across my bed very comfortably, with one hand slung behind his head and no shirt on.

Woah… This was definitely not on the agenda for tonight.

"Um… Hello Niklaus; I'm liking the look, you going out shirtless tonight hoping that your stunning abs will give you an advantage?" I said mockingly, trying to cover up how on edge I was around him.

However, my comment seemed to have the adverse effect.

"Did you just describe my abs as stunning love? Well, at least it's nice to know what you finally think of me…" He replied raising an eyebrow teasingly, pulling himself up from my pillows and into seated position on my bed.

I shook my head exasperatedly at him, and placed my glass on the table as far away from him as possible.

"What's the matter sweetheart… Haven't you learnt by now that I don't bite love… _unless_ you want me too…" He said cheekily rising from the bed and pacing towards me. I felt my heartbeat began to quicken as he approached me and a blush rising in my cheeks.

Man… I swear I was never like this until I met Niklaus Mikaelson; he seemed to have the effect of reducing me to an absolutely giggling girl. He was getting pretty close now, and I didn't know what to do; I found myself frozen on the spot.

He closed the gap between our bodies; his pressed comfortably on mine and pressed my back tightly against the wall. He caressed my face with one hand whilst tracing little circles on my neck with his other. I felt my breathing quicken in anticipation; I'd learnt that with Klaus, it was all about the chase. He threaded his arms around my waist and one had found its way up my shirt, tracing his fingers up and down my spine and making me shiver all over.

I let out a sigh of enjoyment; his hands had a glorious texture and felt even better against my skin. I could take the wait no longer and reached up to capture his bottom lip within mine. He seemed surprised at my forwardness but he responded enthusiastically; well he did for a while but then he rapidly broke away.

"no…" was all that he uttered as he pulled away.

"What? You don't want this?" I inquired, utterly confused seeing as he was always the one encouraging me.

"I can't believe you did that…" He repeated once more. I furrowed my brow in question, now I really was confused; surely he wanted me to kiss him? He seemed to enjoy it…

"What's the matter Niklaus?" I inquired, anxious to discover what the matter was.

"You ate my chocolate Caroline, you little thief!" He exclaimed in mock shock.

"No I didn't… What chocolate?" I asked trying to feign innocence.

"Caroline Forbes; I can taste my favorite chocolate on your tongue!" He continued, a smile breaking onto his face.

"Um… Oops, maybe I did… It was an accident. I promise…" I added, trying to redeem myself.

"You mean you accidently ate my chocolate?" Klaus inquired.

I nodded in response, not trusting myself to speak anymore.

"Well you do know I'm going to have to make you pay for that right?" He asked with a teasing expression on his face. That was when he grabbed me tightly around the middle and tossed me onto the bed and he began tickling me all over. I began to laugh and squirm frantically… Man… How did he know tickling was my main weakness!?

His hands left no area of skin untouched, I broke out into hysterics, with my laughter came tears, and they poured down my face.

"Niklaus.. Nik… please stop, it tickles!" I exclaimed through the laughs and tears.

"Hmmm… nope, I don't think you've learnt your lesson yet!" He said as he continued.

However, he stopped tickling and very gently began to massage my shoulders and upper back; it was bliss.

He leant down and gave me a gentle kiss before moving his lips to my ear and speaking:

"You know love, that chocolate tasted 100 times better on you…" He whispered huskily.

Another shiver ran down my spine, and I rolled out from beneath him as I saw the time.

"Nik, its 8:45, we've got to get ready! You need to go and get your things together or at the rate you're going you're going to distract me and ultimately make all of us late!" I said in my most chiding tone, whilst attempting to catch my breath from the tickle-fest. However, I was not going to admit to him how much I didn't want him to leave.

"I see you've adopted the nickname my siblings use for me… Somehow it sounds so much more _scandalous _coming from you; it's never going to sound quite the same coming from my siblings again…" He added, yet again raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"Niklaus, get out right now… You are _such_ a tease!" I exclaimed as I opened the door and pushed him very effectively out of it.

"See you shortly sweetheart..." He added like a perfect gentleman before making his way back to his room.

I rolled my eyes at him, before turning and shutting my door. Man… that man was exasperating…

Now; what was I going to wear tonight?

I pulled open my draws and the wardrobe and after staring at them for a while I decided on my camouflage pants and a black sweatshirt, a black beanie hat and my trusty black boots. I threw my body warmer over the top for luck. I then grabbed my utility belt from the draw and attached it to the top of my trousers. I then slotted in my knife, Taser, lighter, and a pair of pliers, because to be honest… you never quite knew when you would need a pair of them…

I zipped up my jacket and made my way into the hall where everyone was waiting.

Stefan handed us all back our cell phones with the new app installed and handed some of the others back their earpieces, that like mine, he had fine-tuned. We all popped them into our ears and ensured that they were concealed.

"I've got to admit, I do love a good ol' night heist!" Kol exclaimed gleefully, a look of excitement in his eyes.

"Easy brother, calm down, we know what you get like when you're excited." Elijah added giving Kol a pat on the back.

"Oh yes, anything can happen when I'm excited." Added Kol suggestively as he threw a sneaky wink in Bonnie's direction, whose cheeks turned a bright shade of red.

"Okay everyone, please… enough eye sex or whatever… let's just get going…" Added Damon seriously as he made his way towards the door.

We all followed his lead.

"Good luck everyone!" Stefan shouted down the hall as we made our way out. He then settled down at the table, grabbed himself a drink and turned on his equipment.

_We were ready to roll… _

**Hey guys!  
Firstly I'd like to apologize for the really late update, I'm so so so so so sorry, I've been having such bad writers block, and I just had no idea how to progress, but don't worry everything is back in order and updates should be regular from now on. **

**A massive thank you to everyone who has been regularly reading and reviewing this story it means so much to me that you are interested, and I hope you still are after this break from updating. **

**Please continue to read, review and follow, I love to hear what you have to say and any suggestions you have would be great!**

**Also… Ohmygosh… Episode 4x16 (Don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet!) but****…**** I can't believe what happened with Klaus and a certain female!**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and see you at the next chapter!**


	22. Takedown

**Caroline's POV**

Niklaus and I were the last to leave; this was due to the fact that Stefan informed us that our location was the closest. When we reached the garage we wished good luck as the others got into their designated vehicles. I waved goodbye to Elena and gave a brief thumbs up to Matt before turning to speak to Klaus.

"So why did you give us the one closest?" I asked curiously.

"Well love, I figured the closest the lab to us, then the closer it is also to Mason, therefore increasing the likelihood of him being there..." He explained as he snaked an arm around my waist and left it there comfortingly.

"So, you're saying we're going to this one because you don't want to put the others at risk?" I said with a tone of admiration. I never really thought that Klaus would think about things like that, but it was becoming obvious to me that beneath his hard exterior was a person that really did care.

"Yes sweetheart, you and I, with the exception of Alaric, are the only ones who have a real war against Mason. Therefore it didn't seem fair to me to have someone else target the lab and increase their chances of danger when they have nothing personal against him..." He continued to explain, shrugging his shoulders and brushing off the sentiment as if it was nothing. I however knew it wasn't anything, it really showed that Niklaus Mikaelson had a heart; something that many people before now had questioned...

I nodded in response unsure of what else to say.

"Okay then love, if we're done with this conversation I think it's time for us to get going..." He said as he dropped his arm from around my waist and clasped my hand in his, leading me towards the car and opening the door like a perfect gentleman.

"Thanks..." I said as I climbed in; however I wasn't too happy about the fact he wasn't letting me drive. Alas, it did seem like he always had to be the alpha male. Klaus climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine.

"I think you should put your seatbelt on love, you've never been in a car with me before..." He said teasingly; I debated whether to put one on or not, but as I saw him reach for his I decided that he must have been telling the truth, and I reached for my own seatbelt and plugged it in securely.

"Alright then, have we got everything we need?" He continued. I kicked the kitbag beside my feet to indicate that it was in the car.

"Are you sure that we have everything?" He asked to clarify when I didn't respond.

"_Yes _Niklaus we have everything, now can you _please _stop acting like my granddad and just drive!" I exclaimed.

"Sweetheart, I am _no _granddad." He said raising his eyebrows and taking my taunt as a challenge. I was going to respond with some sarcastic comment when he pressed his foot down hard on the accelerator, woah... I guess it really was a good job I put my seatbelt on.

"Hey Stef, what's going on?" I asked him whilst Klaus drove; wondering what was happening with the others.

"Not much Care, Elena and Jeremy have already taken down lab 1; they said it was easy as there were only one or two workers there at the time. Damon and Rebecca have just entered the location of lab 2, Bonnie and Matt have been at Lab 3 for about four minutes and Kol and Elijah are nearly at Lab 4. Everything's going to plan, so relax, we've got this..." He added reassuringly. I looked over at Niklaus and saw a smile cross his face; I could see that he was genuinely relieved that things were going well so far.

"Okay then, thanks Stefan..." I continued.

"Oh and Care, if you look at your Cell phone you can check on everyone's progress without having to communicate over the mic." He said simply.

"Woah Stefan, easy or you might make me think you don't want to hear my lovely voice!" I said in mock horror.

He laughed and said bye before going silent.

"For the record love, I could listen to your lovely voice _all_ day..." Klaus said as he looked over at me. I rolled my eyes at him and saw that the speedometer read 140mph.

"Great Nik, but seriously keep your eyes on the road!" I stated worried, even though I knew there was no way in hell Niklaus would ever crash a car.

**Klaus's POV**

We pulled up about 100 meters away from the lab; I observed the location whilst Caroline checked her cell phone. It turned out that since our arrival here Damon and Rebecca were done at Lab 2 and so were Bonnie and Matt at Lab 3. I felt myself letting out a sigh of relief once again, very rarely my jobs actually went to plan, so on the occasions when they did I always tried to make the most of it.

"Okay love, you ready to go in?" I asked, pulling her away from staring at her phone screen.

"Yes, I'm ready; but I'm getting a bit worried about Kol and Elijah. The app Stefan downloaded is telling me that they've been in there for 10minutes; they shouldn't be taking so long…" She said nervously.

"Sweetheart, I'm sure their absolutely fine." I said reassuringly whilst silently wondering about them also.

She gave a nod, pulled the kit bag from the backseat and opened the door. I followed her example and we slowly made our way over to the lab. It was situated in a rundown area, and Mason had made it appear to look like a building that was currently undergoing renovation, it was all bordered up and some of the walls were made to look like they were authentically crumbling. I was pretty sure if I wasn't so clued up I wouldn't give this place a second thought.

"Are we going in or are we going to just stand here staring all day?" Inquired Caroline impatiently.

"Okay, okay let's go…"

We walked silently around to the back, and vaulted over the fence, before walking through the yard in the shadows and very tactfully avoiding the cameras. When we reached the door we saw there was a key code entry lock.

I pulled the decoder from my back pocked and attached it to the lock .

"Stefan, get us in here will you?" I asked quickly, and as soon as I spoke the numbers on the machine began decoding. Thank god I had a technology whiz on my side was all I thought as the door clicked open.

Caroline threw a smile in my direction and nodded for me to go in.

"Ladies first Caroline, ladies first…" I said mockingly and she shook her head at me, but took the lead nevertheless, just like I knew she wanted to.

As we stepped inside, everything suddenly became very modernized. The interior of this building was not what I expected from looking at the outside.

Caroline peered through a window and saw the heart of the lab; luckily for us there were only four actual workers in the lab at this time, and one very brutish looking security guard. Caroline turned to look at me with a questioning expression on her face.

"What's the plan?" She mouthed at me, anxious not to alert the guard.

"You take the workers hostage and I'll deal with the guard…" I responded, copying her tone.

She nodded once. I looked down at her utility belt and noticed that she had no gun attached to it; there was no way she was going to be able to take four people hostage with just that knife she had. I pulled a gun from the kit bag and held it out to her.

"No, I don't like guns…" was all she replied, whilst shaking her head.

I exhaled irritated before speaking: "Sweetheart, there is no way in hell you are going to be able to take those four people hostage _without_ a gun. You don't have to fire it love, you just have to act like you will if things get out of hand… Okay?" I said reassuringly.

It seemed that my words had the desired effect as she took the gun from my outstretched hand.

I pulled my gun from my belt and turned to look at her once more.

"On the count of three I'll take the guard down and you take the people hostage." She nodded back.

"Okay then…"

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three…"

And with that I saw her sprint in the opposite direction to me, taking the workers by surprise and holding them at gun point.

"Everyone get in the corner!" She exclaimed loudly, which caught the guard's attention.

I saw him ready to react to the threat and knew that it was my time to make a move. I ran at full speed and jumped onto the back of the guy, using my forearms in an attempt to strangle him from behind.

However the guy was pretty strong and he threw me from his back onto the floor and began to pace towards me, he grabbed me around the throat with one of his hands and began to choke me.

"No, don't you look at what's going on over there. Look. At. Me. Do as I say or I swear I will shoot you!" Caroline exclaimed in a very convincing tone; I was pretty sure if I was in those workers position I would be pretty damn scared. However, at the moment it seemed like I had my own problems to deal with.

**Caroline's POV**

I seemed to have things under control pretty well; the workers here seemed to be pretty wimpy and I knew that none of them would try to overpower me. Niklaus on the other hand seemed to be struggling with the guard and I could tell he needed some support.

That's when Stefan's voice came shouting through the earpieces:

"Mason knows what's happening, Kol and Elijah got out of the lab but the workers alerted Mason to what's going on. He's going to be on his way now. I estimate you have about 8 minutes before he gets there, you need to do something fast…" I could sense panic in Stefan's tone, and my one rule was: _when Stefan got worried, everyone should be…_"

Unsure of what to do, to save time I rapidly knocked two of the workers unconscious with the barrel of the gun and tied the other two down with some rope I found in the corner.

Now that I didn't have them to deal with I was free to aide Klaus, I turned to see him pushed against the wall, face battered and bleeding, with the guard beginning to beat him once again. I knew Klaus was going to slip unconscious if the man continued what he was doing, and then the guy would snap his neck. So, I did the first thing I could think of…

… I pulled the trigger and the bullet hit the guard directly in the back of his head. In a matter of seconds he was dead and Niklaus was released from his grip. They both slid to the floor.

I rushed over to Klaus and pulled him into seated position. I stared over his cut face and I saw a smile curve on his lips.

"I'm fine sweetheart; don't we have a limited time frame or something?" He asked, standing up gently. I looked down at my watch and realized that we had only about five minutes left.

"Okay then Nik, what's the plan." I asked.

"Gather up all the equipment, drugs, and paperwork." He instructed.

We both rapidly grabbed everything we could find and placed it into a massive pile on the desk. From the corner of the room one of the hostages spoke…

"Do you have any idea, who you are stealing from!?" The man exclaimed in shock, obviously horrified at what we were doing. Thinking we had no idea what Mason would do to us?

"Oh we aren't stealing it." I said in a menacing tone as I dowsed all the goods in gasoline.

Beside me Klaus lit a match, and I saw the man's eyes widen in terror. He dropped the match onto the pile of gas covered things and it began to burn viciously. I stared down at my watch and saw we only had about two minutes remaining, two minutes remaining until Mason arrived. The hostages would be fine; Mason would untie them before they could get burned.

"Make sure you tell Mason _exactly _who did this…" Niklaus said as we both removed the masks from our faces and threw them onto the fire. The man's eyes widened even further as he recognized Nik's face.

"Oh and tell him we have his pathetic scientist, and the only document containing his precious formula." I informed him.

" Tell him to meet us at the old train station down the street for an exchange tomorrow night, his belongings for 20 million. Tell him we know he has money locked away at an offshore bank and if he doesn't meet us we're going to burn them both. His documents _and _his scientist." Klaus continued in a deadly tone.

"You're crazy, he will kill you; he will hunt you down and torture you!" The worker shouted.

"Oh no he won't… If he has any sense he will do everything we say…" I said simply, before nodding to Niklaus that it was time to leave. There was only about a minute before Mason would get here.

He nodded back at me and grabbed my hand. With that we ran from the building towards the car.

We both jumped into our seats and Klaus started the engine quickly.

"You nearly out guys?" Stefan panicked.

"Yes Stef; we're about 50 meters away from the lab and there's no sign of Mason yet. There is however a lot of smoke coming from that building. Cops might be on their way soon." I added.

I turned to Niklaus.

"You might want to speed up, we don't want to get in trouble with the law _or _Mason!" I exclaimed.

"You want me to go _faster_! If you wish…" He said flooring the gas pedal, and I thought _I _drove fast…

**Klaus's POV**

We drove in silence for the next five minutes; there was no sign of anyone else on the roads, but we didn't want to assume that we had gotten away successfully just yet. Another couple of minutes past and Caroline broke into laughter.

"Ohmygosh" We did it, we did it, we did it, Ohmygosh we _actually_ did it!" She exclaimed jumping in glee.

"It seems we did love, but don't go getting cocky too soon; we have to make it through tomorrow night before we start celebrating…" I added.

She gave a shrug of her shoulders and it was obvious that she was ecstatic with our recent victory.

"So do you want to talk about it love?" I asked her gently, not quite sure how to approach the subject.

"About what?" She added confused.

"About the shooting love, you save my life; but shooting someone dead is a hard thing to deal with…" I said soothingly.

She turned to look at me and rolled her eyes…

"Niklaus; I said that I didn't _like_ guns, not that I'd never _used _one…" She said with sadness in her tone, but she had an air about her that told me that she had done it many times before. I had to admit that I was not expecting that response.

"Woah, wait a second how many people_ have_ you shot?!" I exclaimed, shocked.

"A lot less than you" Was all she replied, and turned to stare out of the window, obviously wanting to change the subject.

Silence fell for a while or two and I was unsure of what to say.

Finally, our apartment came into view and I drove up into the parking garage. I cut the engine and turned to look at her.

"Well love, as you saved my life; I guess you can have my chocolate…" I said teasingly as I leant towards her.

"Oh really?" She said, seductively leaning forward.

"Mhhm…" I nodded, unsure of how to continue, her hypnotizing presence leaving me tongue tied.

"Well, because I'm _so _generous… maybe we can share it…" She continued, pressing a teasing kiss to my lips before climbing out of the car.

_Woah… _

**Hello, Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter!**

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews! Please continue to read, review and follow!  
**


	23. The final plan

**Caroline's POV**

"OHMYGOSH. You're alive!" Exclaimed Elena as Niklaus and I let ourselves into the apartment. She ran at full speed down the corridor and leapt on me.

"Care, you have absolutely no idea how worried I was about you. We heard all the stuff that was happening through the earpieces and I was so so sure that something had happened. I was so worried after us not Seeing Eye to eye just lately, and I just want to take the time right now to tell you I'm so sorry for any argument we have ever ever had!" Gushed Elena as she enveloped me into a huge hug.

"Elena, I'm fine, we're fine, and everything is absolutely fine. Anyway, you and I never stay at odds for too long anyway." I responded, hugging her tightly back despite how much I ached all over. I was so touched by her words. I really did have to admit that things had been rocky between us lately, but it seems near death experiences really did fix friendships.

"Well, I've got to say I'm pretty disappointed I didn't get the same kind of welcome…" Muttered Klaus with a smirk on his face. Nevertheless, as he spoke Rebecca came hurtling down the corridor with a huge smile on her face.

"Niklaus, it's good to see you're not in too bad condition, you've only got a couple of scratches here and there…You should see the state of Kol and Elijah; they really got the shit beaten out of them!" Rebecca stated, the words quite literally tumbling from her mouth.

Klaus's facial expression turned into one of concern as he heard about his brothers. He followed Rebecca down the corridor and into the living room where Kol and Elijah were both propped on the sofa.

Elijah was in a better condition than Kol, although his lip was split, his face was swollen and his usual suit was covered in blood.

"See Elijah, that is why you don't wear a suit when doing a mission!" exclaimed Niklaus, obviously joking to hide his concern. He reached over anyway and gave him a brotherly slap on the back.

We turned to see Kol lying on his back, he was shirtless and Bonnie was attending to the many wounds on his chest. And I had to admit she looked _ very _concerned; definitely more concerned than just a 'doctor/patient' relationship as she ran her hands over his wounds, dabbing cream and bandaging certain areas.

"Woah, Kol you look like shit." I stated as I went and sat on the floor by the sofa. I raised my hand and placed it gently on his shoulder to show my support. The others followed suit and gathered around him.

"Well; if I'd known that I'd get all this attention then I would have beaten myself up!" he exclaimed trying to make a joke, however the laughter causing his face to crease in pain.

"Kol. For once please just stop being a joker and lie still!" Bonnie exclaimed with a chiding expression.

"Yes doctor, yes doctor." Kol replied silently, apparently the pain medication was beginning to kick in as his eyelids began to droop and sleep took over.

We moved away from Kol and left him to rest. We re-convened near Elijah, all of us checking him over and offering him words of support. He however brushed them off; embarrassed at his situation.

He stood precariously, he obviously had a concussion from the many blows he'd had to the head. I saw Elena's brows furrow as she reached out to help him.

"You set back down Elijah, I'm going to get you a drink and Bonnie will get you some more painkillers." She said with a tone of concern as she paced into the kitchen to get a glass, and Bonnie re-opened the medical kit for some pain relief.

I looked at Elena once more, and saw how she was fawning over Elijah; it was _not _a good sign. Like Bonnie she also seemed overly concerned, and now she was with Stefan she _definitely_ did not need another man in the picture. I rolled my eyes at the sight and brushed off the thought; she couldn't help herself, she was so caring and she fell for guys so easily; you couldn't blame her…

When Elijah was settled, Bonnie was left to watch over both him and Kol whilst we all broke away to discuss tomorrows plan. Alaric however pulled me to one side before we joined the others. He grabbed me into a big hug and when he pulled away he looked at me seriously.

"I know you and I have had our differences in the past, but I just wanted to say that I'm glad you're okay, and I'm here if you need anything." He said sincerely.

It was a very nice gesture, but I was unsure quite how to respond.

"Well, if you want to help Alaric, you could get me a glass of bourbon!" I exclaimed, knowing that now was definitely time for a stiff drink, and I decided that Damon's favourite would suit this situation perfectly.

"Okay everyone, enough touchy feely; we're all back and we're all alive. But now we need to focus on tomorrow night. We've got just one more day to endure and then we're free and clear to live our lives however we see fit…" Klaus stated, always anxious to talk business. However, I had to admit the idea that by this time tomorrow we'd be insanely rich and free to live our lives was a very welcoming idea.

Everyone looked at Klaus and began to listen intently, with both Kol and Elijah down we knew that we had to adapt our plan.

"So now that Elijah and Kol are out of action, what's the plan?" Inquired Matt, voicing what we were all thinking.

Niklaus sat down and placed his head into his hands. He looked tired and exasperated.

"I honestly don't know, our plan won't work if it's missing two people. I know that I usually like to take the lead, but right now anyone else's input would be very much appreciated…" He said, admitting defeat. I looked him up and down; he really must be feeling rough if he was openly asking for assistance.

We sat in silence for a moment or two, sll staring round at one another, just hoping that someone had some amazing secret plan that was going to get us out of the mess we'd just found ourselves in.

"Okay, so as I see it right now we still have the upper hand. Mason thinks you have me kidnapped, you have the only copy of the formula and you're exchanging everything in return for a ton of money?" Alaric inquired, trying to establish our situation.

"Yes, that's exactly our current situation…" Said Jeremy in response.

We found ourselves in silence once again, everyone processing the information and searching their brains for some kind of idea.

I was going to leave it up to everyone else, but then I had a thought.

"Well, if we're exchanging Alaric and the formula for Money, what are we going to do about Alaric and the formula once they're in Mason's hands?" I asked rationally, noticing already that there were some flaws to our ideas.

"Well, we'll obviously have to get them back somehow…" Stated Matt as if it were so easy.

"Yeah, but how; that's not going to be an easy task?" Replied Rebecca, glaring at Matt as if he were an utter fool.

"Okay. So it's obvious that we're going to have to have one of us slipping a tracker onto Mason's vehicle whilst we make the exchange." I said simply.

Niklaus looked up, his eyes lighting up; it was obvious that he was having a 'lightbulb' moment.

"Well then, we know what Caroline, Stefan and I are going to be doing!" He exclaimed a smile beginning to form on his face.

"Care to enlighten us then, mate?" Asked Damon.

"Caroline and I are obviously going to be the precision drivers following Mason once the swap has been made. And Stefan is going to be the one chipping and tracking Mason's car…" Stated Niklaus, and now it seemed pretty obvious.

"Right so we've got that bit sorted out, what about the rest of us? Continued Jeremy.

"Well… Someone's obviously going to have to hand Ric and the formula over to Mason…" Damon added.

"Right… Well you can take care of handing over Alaric, and Bonnie can deal with the formula and giving it to Mason. How does that sound?" Niklaus asked.

Damon nodded seeming happy with the plan, as did Alaric, believing he would be safe in Damon's company. We all turned to look at Bonnie who was still busy fussing over Kol even though he was fast asleep.

"Does that sound good to you Bonnie?" I repeated for Niklaus, knowing that he would just get impatient.

"Of course it does!" She replied.

We all nodded as the plan came together.

"But what about Jeremy, Matt and I?" Rebecca exclaimed, worried about missing out on the final step of the plan.

Niklaus rolled his eyes at Rebecca…

"Really Becca, is your role not obvious?" He replied with a patronizing expression on his face.

"Don't give me that superior look Nik; just tell us!" she said sulkily.

"Well it goes without saying that Mason will not come alone; your roles are obviously to keep the guards busy whilst Stefan plants the chip. And you need to stand look-out in case things go bad. You get choice from any weapons from the weapons chest. Also, once Caroline and I start tracking Mason you Matt and Jeremy are going to have to be in the communications van following us in case things go wrong…"

Rebecca, Matt and Jeremy also all nodded at Niklaus's explanation. It seemed that we had a plan. It felt good.

"Everyone clear?" Niklaus inquired one last time.

"Yup" We all chorused.

"Well then everyone had better get a good night's sleep because tomorrow is going to be a _very _busy day… Tomorrow _is _the day…"

We all nodded knowing that the rest of our lives depended on how the events of tomorrow played out…

**Hello!**

**Sorry for the lack of Klaroline, but I had to have some sort of plot explaining chapter. **

**There's not much of this story left, but don't worry there is plenty of Klaroline scenes to come!**

**A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, it's really great to hear from you! **

**Please continue to read, review and follow.**

**See you at the next chapter!**

**P.S – I still can't get over the Klaus/Haley thing! **


	24. Final Stage

**Klaus's POV**

I watched as Caroline made casual chat with my brothers whilst the others were all busy getting ready tonight.

I saw the way she subconsciously flipped her hair over her shoulder, and captured her bottom lip between her teeth every now and then. I saw every single detail, and it worried me. Maybe I cared too much?

I stared back at her once more as she joked with Kol; I've got to say if she can put up with Kol's horrendous sense of humor then she's definitely a keeper. Elijah looked admiringly at her and I knew that Rebecca also respected her. She was a hit with my family, and not many were; that's how I just knew that she was the one. I wasn't the kind of person to believe in one true love, but if I did I was pretty certain she would be it. Not that I would voice that out loud of course, I do have a reputation to live up to after-all...

Bonnie took over from Caroline beside Kol when she'd finished getting ready; Caroline obviously picked up on the tension between the two and knew it was her time to leave. She picked herself gracefully up from the floor and made her way to stand beside me.

"What's the matter Niklaus, you're looking way too thoughtful, and it's almost disturbing!" She said joking around. I shook my head teasingly at her and placed one arm around her shoulders and drew her towards me.

"You are going to be careful tonight aren't you love?" I inquired, attempting to keep my voice as indifferent as possible.

"Sorry Nik, but careful just isn't in my dictionary!" She said teasingly, hitting me jokingly on the arm.

"Well tonight love, it will be. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. There's too much out there for you to experience and you can't go getting yourself hurt anytime soon." I replied gently, hugging her even closer to my body.

"I'll try my best Niklaus, but no guarantee's..." She replied in a mocking tone.

She reached for a glass from the cupboard and filled it up with some coke, before taking a long sip from the glass.

"So tonight; you are going to let me ride my bike yeah?" She asked sneakily, I knew that she was just dying for the answer to be yes.

"No love, I'm afraid not..." I muttered back.

"WHAT! Niklaus Mikaelson if I'm following a guy in the middle of the night I am riding a motorbike whether you like it or not!" She exclaimed with an indignant expression on her face.

"Oh I know you will be love." Was all I replied secretively.

"What, but you just said I wasn't?" She continued, looking thoroughly confused.

"No sweetheart, I said you wouldn't be riding _your _bike, but don't you worry; I've gotten you a brand new present." I said proudly, knowing that my mechanic friend will have dropped off her new bike about an hour ago. It had been a struggle keeping it to her for this long, but I could resist no longer once I saw the expression on her face.

"Y-you...bought me a bike?!" She explained in utter shock.

"No way, no you didn't..." She continued to ramble, unsure of what to do. Her face had turned a bright shade of red in her excitement.

"I guess you want to see it then sweetheart?" I inquired teasingly, knowing full well what her answer would be.

"Ohmygosh" Yes, yes, yes, yes!" The words came tumbling from her mouth.

"Well then love, you'd better follow me down to the parking lot..." I replied simply, before making my way towards the corridor.

**Caroline's POV  
**I squeezed Klaus's hand within mine so tightly as I saw the sight that was before my eyes. I pulled my hands from his and ran my fingers over the paintwork, the visor, the fuel tank. It was absolutely perfect. I never thought that anything could ever match up to my amazing Honda sports bike, but before me was the newest, top of the range Ducati with custom paintwork and logo's.

It was perfection.

"Ohmygosh this is so perfect...so so Perfect! Ohmygosh I actually love you!" I exclaimed whilst I threw myself onto Klaus hugging him tightly and twining my legs around his waist.

An awkward silence fell for a moment or two when it dawned upon us that I had said the phrase 'I love you'; however Niklaus was the first of us to break the silence as he placed me back down on the ground and spoke.

"Well love, it means a lot to me that you like it. You couldn't have ridden your Honda because Mason has already seen it and would have noticed that you were tailing him. "Klaus explained simply.

"I see the logic behind your decision, and I can't thank you enough, this has to be like the best present ever!" I exclaimed throwing my arms around him once more.

"You know love, if I knew this was the reaction I was going to get I would have bought you a bike much, _much _sooner…" He replied suggestively.

I laughed happily, knowing that even though tonight was going to be dangerous, I couldn't wait…

"We'd better go back inside and make the final arrangements love, it's nearly time to carry out the final stage of this job…" Niklaus said seriously, back into business mode.

I nodded and followed as he began to make his way back inside, I caught up with him and grasped his hand, entwining our fingers.

"Thanks again Nik…"I said quietly as we reached the apartment door.

**Elena's POV**

I saw as Klaus and Caroline made their way back in, I felt a smile creep onto my face as I took in Caroline's delighted expression. – It had been hard for me not to tell Caroline the secret about the present Niklaus had bought her, seeing as we were best friends we were used to telling one another everything.

"Okay everyone, with the exception of Kol and Elijah of course, please gather round…" Niklaus shouted, and everyone emerged from the various rooms and grouped around the table. "

"Right Stefan, have you got that tracking chip ready?"

"Sure have" he stated as he paced over to his work top and picked it up, it was_ tiny;_ my boyfriend really is a genius I thought as I smiled proudly at him.

"Good job mate, get down to the parking lot now with Rebecca, Jeremy and Matt. You lot need to leave first so you can position yourselves somewhere Mason and his men will not detect you." Klaus replied, it seemed the he had really thought of every possibility.

I paced over to Jeremy and gave him a massive hug, not wanting to let him go. I did the same with Rebecca and Matt, the others followed suit.

"Be safe guys, this is the last stage of the mission, when this is over we're free and clear…" I said, taking a deep breath, I knew Jeremy was grown up but no matter how old he got he would still be my little brother and I would still worry about him.

"Don't worry Elena, we've got this… We'll see you later…" He said simply, pulling me into one more hug before turning and leaving with the others.

**Klaus's POV**

When they left the atmosphere in the room became rapidly more serious, everyone had finally realized that this was the last step, the last step to get right and then we could go away and live the rest of our lives however we saw fit.

I glanced over at Caroline and flashed her a smile, I could see the anxious look on her face, she was obviously worried about her good friends Jeremy and Matt, over the past few days she'd also become very attached to Rebecca, so I'm sure that just like me, she was worrying for her safety too.

"Right, the rest of you need to be ready to leave in five minutes." I said addressing Damon, Bonnie and Alaric.

Bonnie sat on a chair with Mason's file gripped tightly in her hand; her expression was one of concern.

"What's the matter Bonnie?" I inquired, wondering what the matter was; it seemed that it was more than just pre-mission jitters.

"I was just thinking that if you and Caroline don't get to Mason, then this drug is going to be produced and distributed to so many people; so many people could be killed just because we're making a deal with the devil. Are you sure we shouldn't just destroy it and forget about tonight's meeting?" She asked rationally.

"No Bonnie, we can't do that yet, we need that money from Mason to be able to walk away from this. Stefan's tracking chip is going to work perfectly and Caroline and I are going to get Mason easily, there is nothing, absolutely nothing for you to be worried about." I responded, hoping that my lie wasn't too obvious, I did see her point of view, and I was pretty sure I was worrying just about as much as she was about what could happen if things went wrong.

A nervous smile crept onto her face and I saw that I had managed to comfort her slightly.

I turned my gaze onto Alaric and Damon. Damon had tied up Alaric nice and tightly, and Alaric had even gone as far as to insist Damon punch him a couple of times.

"I can't believe you actually asked Damon to punch you!" I said shaking my head in disbelief.

"Mason thinks that you kidnapped me, it needed to look realistic too, it needed to look as if you have been treating me badly or he would immediately realized that something wasn't right…" Alaric explained, and I did see how that made sense. Actually, it turned out that he was a lot smarter than I'd given him credit for. I nodded my head in admiration.

"Good decision. But now you'd best be on your way, go to the rendezvous point, make sure you're on time and make the exchange. The rest you can leave to Caroline and me… Oh and remember to turn on your earpieces, we'll need to communicate." I said quickly.

We all exchanged hugs; I even gave Damon a quick slap on the back despite the fact that we were very often at odds.

"Good luck!" Caroline and I explained in unison as they made their way to the door.

"So… It's just you and I left…" Caroline stated as she turned to look at me…

"Yes love, and we'd better be ready; our job is the hard part…" I said honestly.


	25. Complications

**Klaus's POV**

"Don't worry Niklaus I'm not one to buckle under pressure or panic when things get hard; admittedly, there is nothing more exhilirating that a job like this… the adrenaline is just… woah.." She said her excitement evident, however I did see how her face paled visibly. I knew I really had met my match; she, like me enjoyed the adrenaline of the moment, but also had the sense to know the real danger and to be nervous.

"Well the sweetheart, enjoy tonight; because if everything goes to plan. This is the last job any of us will ever have to do." I said grabbing one of her hands within mine.

"One last job…" She muttered quietly as she squeezed my hand and smiled up at me.

"Yes love, one last job…" I responded with a smile.

"Nik, Care listen up, Mason's about two miles away from the rendezvous point; you need to get going!" Jeremy explained over the intercom.

"Thanks Jeremy, we're on our way." I replied before turning back to Caroline.

"It's now or never love; we'd better get going," I exclaimed, tugging her up from the chair. She grabbed her bike gear and followed me out the door. As we made our way down to the parking garage she slipped on her jacket and gloves, her facial expression one of seriousness. I had to admit, it was kind of turning me on; despite the circumstances…

We walked over to her bike and she climbed on, she clutched her helmet in one hand, but her other hand snaked out and grabbed my collar. She pulled me forcefully toward her and crashed her lips onto mine; I've got to admit I was surprised, and therefore didn't savor the moment as much as I should have. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, she released me and pulled her helmet over her head, before gunning the ignition and speeding away.

"Good luck Niklaus…" her voice came through my earpiece, and I was still standing, staring off to where she had just left. Man… that woman was so unpredictable.

"Good luck to you love." I replied as I shrugged on my own jacket and made my way over to my car.

**Stefan's POV**

Mason and his entourage arrived at the rendezvous point on time; almost _too_ on time. I felt a funny feeling wash over me, but I brushed it off and blamed it on superstition; Damon always joked about my wariness and I tried to picture him now, laughing at me because I was acting stupid.

Mason and his men clambered from the car and paced towards the others, I took this as my opportunity; I stealthily made my way over to his car and pulled myself underneath and took in the sight before me.

There seemed to be a mass of wires and various other contraptions; I wasn't good with cars, I was a computer kind of guy. This is how I knew this was going to take me a while. I zoned out all the noises around me and focused on the job at hand.

**Elena's POV**

Mason and his men began to stroll towards us, Damon, Bonnie, Alaric and I stared intently at one another whilst still in the confines of our vehicle.

"It looks like it's show time. Good luck all." Damon said, breaking the ominous silence. We all nodded around at one another in agreement and clambered from the car.

I positioned myself on one side of Alaric and Damon on the other, Bonnie paced beside us with Mason's precious file. We dragged Alaric towards Mason, and Alaric played along resisting and shouting expletives at us. Mason needed to be fooled otherwise this wouldn't work.

"Ah, my poor kidnapped scientist, it's so nice to see that he's still in one piece… well, just about…" Mason said, voice like a snake.

"Yes Mason, we've upheld our end of the bargain. We've got your documents and your scientist. Have you got our money?" Damon asked guardedly, obviously not trusting Mason one bit; well none of us did…

"All in good time, you had over my file and Mr. Saltzman, and then you will get your money." He replied, whilst gesturing to one of his men who was holding out a briefcase.

Bonnie, Damon and I stared at him in disbelief; he rolled his eyes and barked out an order at one of his thugs.

"Show them!" He said curtly. The man nodded once and clicked open the briefcase, he pulled the lid open and turned the briefcase towards us to show us the contents. Damon let out a whistle as he saw the contents.

"Okay you're the real deal; you haven't tried to screw us over. Bonnie give him the file." Damon said, as he handed Alaric over to the men. Bonnie's facial expression was one of indecision and confusion; despite the fact that we swore to her we'd be getting the formula back, she was still not happy about having to hand it over to Mason.

She let out a long sigh before holding out the file to him, her arm shaking slightly. That was when things went rapidly downhill. Mason snatched the file from Bonnie's outstretched hand, before pushing her brutally to the ground.

Masons thugs followed his example, one man struck Damon hard around the head with the briefcase which knocked him out cold; and I knew what was coming for me next, I dropped into fighting stance, but before I could brace myself a heavy boot made contact with my stomach, knocking all the air from me and forcing me to the ground. I hit the floor at an awkward angle and felt my ankle twist; I gave a small shout of pain and shock, hoping that Rebecca, Jeremy and Matt would realize what was happening and come to our aid.

Bonnie pulled herself swiftly from the ground, looked at Damon and I on the ground and made her decision. She ran at speed towards Mason and threw herself onto his back, from my crumped position I saw Rebecca, Jeremy and Matt join the fight. Dread seeped through my body as I realized that things weren't going our way. Mason turned viciously and pulled a Taser from his pocket before jamming it brutally into Bonnie's neck, she once more crumpled to the ground and began to convulse.

"Ohmygod Bonnie!" I exclaimed, horrified at the scene which was playing before my eyes.

The other's came to Bonnie's defense but Rebecca was knocked away rapidly, which left Matt and Jeremy vs at least six other men. I hoped that things were going well with Stefan, because things here were not going to plan, and we had to be able to track Mason. I saw the expression on Alaric's face and I knew that he just wanted to come to our defense, but it seemed even he knew that it was a lost cause, he decided that sticking to the plan was our only option.

**Klaus's POV  
**The car was being extremely obstinate, for some reason it just wouldn't start, which meant I couldn't go and keep watch for the others. I stared around the garage, and kicked myself as I realized all the other cars in the garage were gone; I had no mode of transport.

Over the intercom, I heard all hell break loose; Mason had successfully screwed us over.

I heard Elena's cries of horror, I heard Jeremy cursing at the top of his voice.  
I heard my worst nightmare playing out.

"Ohmygod! He got away, Mason got away with everything, Alaric, the money the files…

… and… and… I think Matt's dead!" Elena stuttered out, her voice breaking on the word 'dead', her tone thick with tears and emotion.

"Do something, oh shit, please, _anyone _do something!" She continued to exclaim, everyone else was silent, and it became apparent no one knew what the hell to do.

"Don't worry guys, I've got this. Stefan's tracking device was successful. It's just flagged up Mason's position on my phone; I'm going after him." Caroline said, finally joining the conversation. I could hear her voice was strained, she was obviously worrying for Matt's welfare, they'd known each other a long time.

"NO. Caroline, you are not going without me. Not without back-up, anything could happen…" I roared down the intercom, making me flinch as I heard myself in the earpiece.

"I'm sorry Niklaus, but I'm closest and seeing as you're having car trouble you're definitely out of the game. This is the only option we have." She replied exasperatedly.

" , please don't do this, you don't have to do this. We can all re-convene and make a new plan. We can solve this a much safer way!" I exclaimed, knowing full well that what I was saying wouldn't work out, that it was now or never.

"No Niklaus, everyone knows this is the only option…" She muttered quietly, her voice nothing other than a mumble in my ear-piece.

I crashed my fist down hard against the steering wheel. I was Furious that this had happened. This car cost a bloody fortune, yet when I needed it most it didn't deliver.

**Caroline's POV**

If I looked carefully, I could just about see Mason's car in front. I kept my speed steady and consistent, not wanting to alert them to my presence.

"Niklaus, I will be fine, I promise…" I exclaimed exasperated, it was cute that he was worried about me; but seriously… I had been in situations like this many times before, and he seemed to think that I couldn't look after myself.

In that moment that I was distracted, I didn't realize how close I had become to Mason's vehicles, then all of a sudden they came to stop; I didn't slow down in time and I came in to position immediately behind then. Masons thugs got out of the vehicle behind and I braced for myself for what I knew was going to begin. I climbed from my bike and tensed my body into fighting stance, determined to be ready for the first blow; the odds weren't in my favor 4 vs 1.

"Guys, just a heads up; I've blown my anonymity, but I think I can take on these clowns…" I informed the others.

"Do what's necessary, but don't make any stupid decisions…" Niklaus's voice came over the ear-piece.

"Yes Nik…" I replied, whilst rolling my eyes.

Others began speaking to me, but then my concentration was suddenly taken up by other things when a fist came towards my face. I turned and grabbed the fist in my hand, I squeezed it tightly and twisted it viciously in an opposite direction, I heard a nasty snap and the man grimaced in pain. I used this opportunity to put him completely out of action, I dealt a vicious blow, right below the belt with my foot, using all the power that I could put behind it. I was pretty sure the man's eyes rolled back towards his head as he felt the excruciating pain, he crumpled to the floor temporarily out of the fight.

I turned to the next three and pulled a dangerous looking knife from my boot, before staring at them with as much hate as I could muster. I decided to wait for them to make the first move and fail, similarly to what happened earlier. Yet they just stood staring, matching every move I made.

"What's the matter, you too scared to get your ass kicked like your friend over there?" I baited them.

One man launched himself at me; I dropped low, before running towards him. I braced myself and cracked my head brutally against his; Unfortunately for him I'd learnt how to do the most effective head-butt – the one that caused him all the pain… he grabbed his head in his hands as I imagined the pain had already began, whilst he was distracted I gripped the knife tightly and drove it hard into his stomach; if I had aimed correctly I will have pierced his stomach lining and the acid that collects there would already be travelling and beginning to corrode the rest of his organs.

Yep… I was pretty sure that I'd hit the right spot, the man doubled over, screaming in horror and clutching his stomach. He fell to the floor, twitched for a while or two before becoming motionless. I paced towards his body and pulled the knife from his very dead figure.

"So who's next?" I asked, twirling the knife teasingly between my fingers. Just as I anticipated, the two men took it upon themselves to surround me, one in front and one behind. The man in front drew his knife and being a simple brained thug he aimed it straight at my head, I timed it well and ducked. The man's eyes widened in horror as I moved out the way and he knifed his friend in the head instead of me. Whilst he was busy obsessing over his friend who he just killed, I sneaked up behind him, kicked him to his knees, grabbed his neck in my hands and gave it one vicious twist. I heard the bones crack and the man fell to the floor.

Dead.

"Okay, umm… I've dealt with them, just Mason to go…" I exclaimed over the communication device, breathing heavily, the adrenaline still rushing from the fight.

I heard the others let out a sigh of relief.

"Good job Care, now go get Mason!" They shouted in support from the other end.

I pulled my ripped bike gloves from my hands and tugged off my bike helmet, I threw them both to the ground, before re-adjusting my jacket and straightening up ready to face Mason.

He clambered from his car with a disgusting smirk on his face. I saw Alaric still tied up in the backseat; luckily it seemed that Mason hadn't realized that Ric was involved. Good job too, otherwise things could have got even messier.

Mason straightened up and stared mockingly at me, before motioning for me to come toward him.

I paced slowly over, knowing that if I had to walk to fight this guy, I was going to take my sweet time doing it…

When I reached him, he leered disgustingly at me.

"Ah sweetheart, it's so _so_ lovely to see you again; when I didn't see you at the rendezvous point earlier I thought you'd skipped out on the final phase of this seemingly _awful _plan. Yet here you are _all_ alone, and you don't have a hope in hell… you and I are going to have some fun…" He spat out creepily.

"Yes Mason, I may be all alone; but haven't you noticed that I just beat the shit out of all of your men, their dead; you are also alone… so _so_ alone…" I replied mockingly back, attempting to beat him at his own game.

"Well then, let's get this started shall we?" Mason inquired, before striking me viciously around the face, I felt blood pool in my mouth and I spat out a tooth that had become loose.

"Striking your opponent before they're ready Mason? That's not very honorable…" I said mockingly.

"Well, if you hadn't noticed I'm not a very honorable man…" He spat out.

"I guess that's a good thing, I won't feel guilty doing this then." I replied as I slammed my foot powerfully into his groin. His expression changed into one of intense pain, but he didn't let it stop him, he grasped me tightly around the neck and shoved me up against the wall of a building beside the road.

He squeezed tightly and I felt my oxygen supply running low, I clawed at his hands anxious to get out of this situation. It didn't seem to work, so I did the only thing I could think of, I leant upwards and bit the man as hard as I could on the neck.

"Ah, you little bitch!" Mason exclaimed as he released me and pressed his hand to the blood that was pooling at his neck.

I stumbled away from the wall and tried to get away, but I was too dis-orientated to know where I was going, I fell awkwardly to the floor and saw Mason pace towards me.

He kicked me hard in the side and held me down; he withdrew a knife from his jacket and angled it towards my abdomen. I held my breath and fidgeted as the knife descended towards my body.

As it made contact with my skin I screamed out in agony, but I grabbed my gun from the back of my belt and shot him, directly in the heart, just as Mason drove the knife fully into my stomach.

"AAH!" Mason and I's screams rang out in unison; however, all I could think through the intense agony that I was pretty sure was going to kill me was: If I was going to die, then he was going down with me.

"Caroline, Caroline! Are you alright!" Niklaus exclaimed.

"No, Mason. Knife. Agony. Help" I shouted out.

I slumped down on the pavement, next to Mason's dead body. I pressed my hands tightly to my stomach in an attempt to reduce the bleeding. I closed my eyes for a moment or two in the hope to find some kind of a pain relief. However… No such luck…

"So you break my heart and you kill my uncle, you little bitch…" I heard a furious voice above me.

I opened my eyes and was horrified at what I saw before me.

"Wha-? I stuttered out.

"You're dead!" I shouted the pain of speaking draining the life from me.

"Only in your dreams…" The figure spat venomously.

"Caroline! Who's there?!" Niklaus shouted worried.

"No… no… it's him, he's here… how is he here?" I muttered, unsure now whether I was talking to myself, or Tyler. The pain begin to cause black patches on my vision.

"Whose there Caroline! Tell me!"

"Tyler...

Tyler's here…" I just managed to mutter, before falling unconscious.


	26. Facing death

**Klaus's POV**

I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing as Caroline muttered out the words 'Tyler'; I knew it wasn't true, she'd been hurt badly and it must be making her hallucinate or something. She definitely must have imagined him because I killed Tyler, I had tortured Tyler Lockwood until he begged me to kill him.

Yet, I'd heard it too; I'd heard the male voice through the earpiece that had spoken to Caroline so venomously, and it did indeed sound like Tyler.

I knew that I couldn't just sit around here and wait, the others were still out doing god knows what, Matt however seemed to be fine; he wasn't dead after-all, he'd just been knocked unconscious.

I strode back down to the garage, my car was bust and I didn't particularly want to steal anyone else's, that's when my eye caught something in the corner of the garage.

Caroline's Bike.

She'd kill me for using it, but this was a major situation and I think maybe this one time she'd make an exception; I'd just have to make sure I didn't get so much as a speck of dirt on it.

**Caroline's POV**

NO, no, no...

No way; I must be hallucinating or something, the pain in my stomach was agony it was obviously making me see things, and hear things that blatantly weren't there.

"What's the matter babe, not pleased to see me?" Tyler asked menacingly as he knelt down on the floor beside me and pressed a disgusting kiss to my lips. I flinched away from his touch and a nasty smirk appeared on his face.

"Well that's no way to treat your amazing ex-boyfriend is it?" He spat out as he leaned in even closer.

"You know what, you really are an ungrateful bitch; I would have treated you like an absolute princess, yet you threw all the love I had for you right back in my face..." He said, honestly believing that he'd treated me well, it was rather sad how delusional he was.

I placed my hand hard down on my wound attempting to reduce the bleeding even more, I knew it would hurt to speak, but there was no way in hell I was going to allow Tyler to say all this shit to me without standing up for myself, whether I was injured or not.

"Seriously? The love you had for me? I was nothing other than a bargaining chip and a play thing to help keep you amused, you delusional bastard!" I screamed at him, the pain in my stomach becoming unbearable and the my head beginning to spin from the blood loss; I knew I didn't have much time left, I needed a hospital and I needed it now; but if I went to a hospital I'd be caught by the authorities.

So basically it seemed there was no happy ending for me; either death... or Prison... This 'One Last Job' had been an absolute disaster. I rolled my eyes and laughed humorlessly, I may be dying and Tyler Lockwood may be standing over my slowly dwindling figure, but I wasn't going to let him derive a moment's pleasure from seeing me die.

"Should I let you die, or should I save you?" Tyler inquired teasingly.

"I don't want anything from you!" I snarled back.

"We could make a deal, I could save you and you could officially become my property again..." He said disgustingly.

"Fuck you." I muttered out, my face turning a bright shade of red; I, Caroline Forbes was no-one's property, I was my own person.

"Well that was rude..." Tyler said with an evil grin beginning to form on his face.

"You're going to pay for that..." He muttered in my ear as he drew away and pushed down hard on the knife in my stomach.

"AAAH!" I screeched out in pure agony, as he drove it in a little bit deeper; if the wound became any deeper it would sever my stomach lining and release the acid which would corrode the rest of my organs.

I felt some tears escape my eyes, as he straddled me and raised my wrists above my head and pushed them back against the concrete floor. With them restrained there was nothing left to prevent the bleeding and the blood flow increased.

"I want to hear you beg for mercy." He spat in my face.

"Then you are going to be waiting a damn long time..." I screamed at him through my tears.

His face turned an unhealthy purple looking color as I barked back at him, he let go of my wrists and motioned towards my wound once again, however this time there was someone there to stop him.

Alaric had snuck up behind Tyler whilst he had been pre-occupied with me, he used his handcuffs which were binding his wrists to choke Tyler, and he wrapped them around his neck and pulled back hard. It was hard to tell what happened first, whether Tyler died from suffocation or a broken neck...

Ric pulled Tyler's body from me and grabbed my hands before pushing down forcefully on my wound.

"Ah..." I stuttered out, the pressure causing me pain.

"I know it hurts, but if we don't stem the bleeding you're a goner..." He said, not bothering to sugar-coat the truth.

He pulled a mobile phone from his pocket and dialed.

"Hello, yes I need an ambulance please. We're situated about 2 miles away from the station and positioned outside a derelict building by the main road." He said clearly and coherently.

When he hung up, I stared at him in horror.

"What the hell are you doing? When they get here you're going to get everyone arrested, you and me and any of the others that they see along the way." I shrieked, worrying for my friends.

He shook his head sadly before speaking.

"No Caroline, don't you worry, we're going to be long gone." I frowned as he spoke, unsure of what he was saying. Oh, that was when I realized it, they were all going to get away now and leave me here to wait for the emergency services.

"Guys, the cops and the medics are on their way; we'd all better get going." He shouted through the communication device. He got up from my side and ripped off the shirt that Tyler was wearing, he balled it up and pressed it securely against my wound, he then placed my hands on top of it. I smiled at Alaric sadly, all this time I'd thought he'd been such a bad guy; I'd hated him for so long, blaming him for everything that went down in Vegas when after-all we'd both been played for fools.

"Thanks for everything Alaric; now get away from here quick, I don't want you getting into any trouble with the authorities." I said simply, feeling a tear escape once again from my eyes.

He bent down and pressed a kiss against my forehead, I'm pretty sure I felt a tear fall on my forehead, but then again I was pretty far gone, I could have been imagining it.

"You hold on girl; I believe in you…" He said quietly, before standing and making his way over to Masons car. I relaxed against the concrete and heard the car leave, if I was going to die, at least I could die with the knowledge that my friends were safe.

It seemed like hours had passed, when in fact it was probably only a matter of seconds, I guess time goes slowly when you're in absolute agony. I found myself resigning to the fact that no-one was going to turn up, and that I was going to be left on this road side to die between Tyler and Mason Lockwood's already dead bodies.

I closed my eyes in an attempt to sleep and find some peace, when I heard an engine revving in the distance, one of my eyes flew open sharply, because you know what… it sounded suspiciously like my Honda.

**Klaus's POV**

It seemed I'd finally found the spot, Caroline's bike was standing on one side of the road, as were multiple bodies littering the ground. I followed the trail and finally found her, lying on the ground, her skin as white as a ghost and her red lips turning a rapidly blew color.

I sprinted towards her, emotions rising within me, god-only-knows what I'd do if she was dead.

"Caroline, Caroline, can you hear me?" I asked as I pulled her gently into my arms and helped apply pressured to her wound.

Tears began to form in my eyes as her motionless body didn't react; I pressed two fingers to her neck in an attempt to find a pulse.

There was one there. It was faint, but it was still a pulse.

I hugged her tightly to my body, and pulled off my jacket to cover her, in an attempt to warm her up. I tried to avoid looking at the massive wound in her stomach but it was no use, there was so much blood, and so little hope it seemed.

That was until one of her eyes fluttered open momentarily and she mumbled something incoherent. I leaned in closer unable to hear what she said.

"What was that love?" I asked gently.

"You came back…" she stated, it was almost so quiet I couldn't make out the words.

"Yes sweetheart; I will_ always_ come back for you." I said simply, attempting to put all my emotions into that one sentence, to truly show her what she meant to me.

A small smile crossed her lips but the movement caused her face to contort in pain.

"It's alright love, you don't have to speak or move, just stay okay? Just hold on…" I reassured her.

"Y-y-you… came on my bike!" She stuttered out, and even managed to raise one eyebrow suggestively at me.

"Yes sweetheart, and I know you don't like other people using it, but it really was a life or death emergency. " I said justifying myself.

A silent laugh escaped her lips.

"It's fine, I'm kidding…" She managed to mumble out, I laughed silently along with her and found my cheeks wet with tears.

Just as I began to think that all hope was gone, I heard sirens in the distance. They were coming, help was coming.

They could definitely save her.

Well, that was what I told myself anyway…


	27. One Last Hug

**Caroline's POV**

I awoke to find myself lying in a hospital bed in a bright, sunny hospital room. There were many tubes and wires sticking into me here and there, and a drip by my bedside connected to my arm.

Outside the door to the room were stood two armed cops, they were obviously there to make sure all had gone well with my surgery, prevent any escape plan I may attempt, and to obviously cart my straight off to prison the minute I was discharged.

On the end of the bed on the table were sat a countless number of flowers, left obviously by my friends who had to leave in order to not get caught by the authorities. However, not all of them left...

Sitting in the chair by the side of my bed, with his hands bound together and handcuffed to the bed rail was none other than Niklaus Mikaelson. His head was positioned comfortably against my thigh and he was fast asleep.

It really showed how much Niklaus felt for me, he had given himself up, gotten carted off to hospital with me to ensure my safety, even though he knew that what ultimately lay ahead was prison. I closed my eyes and thought how sad it was that I had finally met the man of my dreams, quite possibly my soul mate, yet there was no hope for us as the only future for the both of us was life in prison.

I gave a deep sigh and awoke Niklaus by my side.

"Ah love; you're finally awake, the surgery you had was pretty intense, you were out for two days!" He exclaimed as he leant up and placed a kiss on my lips, I smiled brightly at him, the joy of being healed finally dawning on me; but the situation we were in also weighed down on my mood.

"Niklaus, you should not have stayed with me, this is not the place for you; prison is no place for you..." I muttered sadly, whilst shaking my head at his actions. Obviously I was flattered, but surely he knew he'd gone a thrown his life away?

"Sweetheart, this is the place for me; I've realized now that by your side will always be the place for me." He said sincerely and suddenly our whole relationship was summed up in that one sentence. Because if that wasn't love, I didn't know what the hell else was.

I cupped my hands around his face and entwined my fingers in his curly hair.

"Yet Niklaus, we have no future; no future other than staring at a prison cell wall for the rest of our life. These few hours that we have left with one another are no match for the life you could have lived as a free man..." I stuttered out, as my voice became thick with tears, as I dwelled on what could have been.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and composed myself, my mother always told me there was no use crying over things we couldn't change. We would just have to enjoy one another's company in the short time we had left.

"So Nik, I'm pretty sure you've figured it out by now, but how the hell was Tyler alive?" I inquired, anxious to know how our arch-enemy managed to cheat death.

"Well it seemed Tyler isn't quite as stupid as he looks, he was paying for people to act as doubles of him whilst he knew I was searching for him and revenge. I unfortunately love, did not kill Tyler, I killed one of his doubles..." Niklaus said with a sigh, and rolled his eyes.

"Well that bastard really did think of everything." I replied as I shook my head and let out a small laugh. In some ways you really did have to admire him, it was a smart move after-all.

"Oh well, he got what he deserved, Alaric killed that bastard in the end..." Niklaus stated with a small smile, I knew that he was secretly upset that he hadn't been the one to do it though.

"Anyway love, let's talk of something less sinister, such as how you are feeling?" He inquired.

I nodded in response agreeing with his change of topic, considering there was an armed cop standing outside it probably wasn't such a good idea discussing people that we'd killed.

"I'm actually feeling great, I have no idea what they did to me, but it sure as hell worked!" I exclaimed, still shocked at the results.

"I bet I have a massive scar though..." I added, and my face fell just thinking about how the girls in prison will enjoy taunting me about it.

Just as Niklaus was about to speak the guard came in from outside and addressed the two of us.

"Miss Forbes, a doctor is about to come and take you up to Clinical Decisions Unit to check you over and see if you can be taken off your medication and be discharged." The man spoke courteously; I was pleasantly surprised that he wasn't just some scum-bag who thought he could treat me like dirt because I was a criminal. I nodded back politely at him to show that I understood.

"Likewise, Mr Mikaelson you are being taken to cubicles it seems some nurse was interested in checking over some old bruising you have, after that it will be filling out discharge forms and off to prison for you too." The man said with a neutral tone.

"Thank you sir." Niklaus said as he also nodded back at the man. The policeman came over and un-handcuffed Nik from the bed, however he did put a set of cuffs on me, it seemed that I couldn't be trusted to move to another ward without trying to make a run for it. I scoffed at the idea, there was no way I'd ever be getting out of here on my own, and even if I were with NIklaus there'd be no hope.

The cop turned and stepped aside as the door was pushed open and the nurse and doctor appeared.

My eyes widened in completed shock as I took in the sight before me.

Bonnie was dressed in nurse's scrubs, complete with a clipboard and stethoscope around her neck. Beside her stood Alaric, looking suspiciously too comfortable in his doctors uniform. Bonnie threw a look in our direction as if to say: 'Don't give anything away!'. Niklaus and I looked at one another and adopted a neutral facial expression, there was no way we were going to jeopardize this obvious escape plan.

"Ah Miss Forbes, Mr Mikaelson; the nurse and I are here to escort you up to the next wards." Alaric said, perfecting the persona of a well-educated doctor; then again he was a con-man.

We nodded in his direction, before looking away, anywhere but at them.

"Do you need me to escort you up?" Inquired the cop, it was obvious from his facial expression that he was dying for the answer to be no.

"Oh no sir, no need; you've been up on your feet for hours and you really do deserve a break. I'm sure these two will cause us little trouble, and if all else fails you can rest assured that here is trained in self-defense!" She exclaimed with a much _much_ too flirty look; nevertheless, the poor guy fell for it.

"Well, thanks ma'am, good luck with these two, I'll see you up on the ward in about 40minutes?" He inquired.

"Sounds good to me sir, enjoy the break; you deserve it!" She shouted at his slowly retreating figure, man she really was laying it on thick.

Alaric pushed my bed into the elevator whilst Bonnie gripped NIklaus's arm tightly and escorted him there, they needed to keep up appearances. Once we were alone in the elevator we knew it was time to start talking.

"Ohmygod! You guys are absolute geniuses!" I exclaimed as a sat up straighter in bed.

"No, no; there is not time to explain. We are going up to the top derelict floor of the hospital, up there you will do everything that we say and not ask questions; we don't have time to explain everything to you so you're just going to have to settle for trusting us!" Alaric said quickly, and rapidly stopped speaking as the elevator reached the desired floor.

We arrived in the wing, and discovered that it really was deserted, aside from two body trolleys and a few small pieces of equipment that had been carefully placed.

Alaric helped me out of bed and unpicked both mine and Klaus's handcuffs.

"Okay Guys, you're not going to like this, but you need to get into those body bags and climb onto a body trolley, understand?" Alaric asked quickly, but we were already moving. We made our way over and I climbed into the body bag, I left it hanging around my waist and began to attempt to get on the trolley, Alaric had to give me a hand though as I was still a bit sore.

Niklaus and I were both lying on our backs on the trolleys, with the body bags still positioned at our waist. Bonnie and Alaric came over and helped them up and over our shoulders.

My eyes widened as Bonnie grabbed two needles from the side.

"Okay, don't be afraid, but this is going to slow both of your hearts down to a point where you will appear dead. You will then be escorted down to the morgue, Matt has managed to get a spot working as a temp mortician and he will ensure that your bodies get loaded onto the right van. The van that Stefan will be driving to get you two the hell out of here, Stefan has the anti-dote to this and will administer it to the both of you when you are at least three miles away from here. From then onwards Stefan knows the rest of the plan..." Bonnie explained quickly as she pulled the two needles from the wrappers.

"I'm not going to lie, this is going to hurt... a lot, it needs to be injected directly into your heart to take effect. I'm going to do it quickly and try to make it as painless as possible." She stated honestly.

She passed one needle over to Alaric to administer to Klaus.

"Okay on the count of three..." She began as she looked over at Ric to ensure he was ready.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three..."

And that was when I felt an excruciating pain in my chest as the needle entered. I felt the liquid drain from the syringe and my head became rapidly dizzy, I closed my eyes and fell quickly to sleep.

**Matt's POV**

Bonnie and Alaric entered the morgue wheeling the two dead bodies. Wait, I mean the bodies of Caroline and Klaus which are conveniently not dead.

I took a deep breath and accepted the files from Bonnie and Alaric, I glanced over at my 'boss' for the day and he saw my hesitation.

"Why the hesitation boy; you've made it clear to me you know what you're doing. So go ahead, read those files and sort out where they are going."

I flicked through the files, attempting to look like I was reading what was written on the pages when in fact I had memorized the back story in which Elijah had spent ages trying to help me remember.

"Husband and wife, Carol and Nicholas Mikaels, they both died in a car crash and it says here that the car from the funeral home will be picking up the bodies. The nurse tells me she has already contacted the funeral home and their vehicle is waiting in the loading bay.

"Well you know what to do son, sign off the paperwork, wheel them out the loading bay and send them onto wherever they are off to next." The elderly mortician said kindly. It made me feel so bad lying to him like this.

"Yes Sir." I replied politely as I ticked the paperwork and wheeled both Niklaus and Caroline out to the loading bay, I was feeling anxious until I saw Stefan and Damon emerge from the vehicle and place the trolleys into the back of the van.

"Good job Matt." Stefan said slapping me on the back.

"Thanks mate, good luck with the next stage…" I replied, before turning and making my way back inside; I didn't want to look suspicious after-all.

**Stefan's POV**

Once we'd said goodbye to Matt and loaded Caroline and Klaus into the back, I got into the back with their bodies and Damon got into the driver's seat. We'd decided that it would be a better idea for me to inject them with the antidote whilst Damon was driving because the longer they stayed drugged the harder it would be to revive them.

As we drove away, I waited for Damon to reach a steady speed; I didn't want to slip…

"We're a mile away from the hospital, You ready Stef?" Damon shouted at me from the front, an undertone of worry in his voice.

"Yes brother, I'm ready to go!" I responded, sounding a lot more confident than I really was, I'd never injected someone before, let alone in the heart, and if I didn't do it properly Niklaus and Caroline would most likely die.

"Start with Caroline; if you revive Niklaus first he'll only start fussing over her!" Damon shouted teasingly.

"Okay!" I replied, agreeing with his logic.

I carefully unzipped the Body back which was concealing Caroline's body and I pulled it down to her waist, I grabbed the first needle from the side, took a deep breath and forcefully stabbed it into her heart, I then pressed hard on the syringe and watched the liquid drain from it and into her.

When it was done I removed the needle, placed it in a bin and looked over at my brother concerned.

"It didn't do anything brother, what the hell do I do now?" I exclaimed horrified.

"Stefan you idiot, you leave it for two minutes and then you have to give her CPR to manually pump the anti-toxin around her body, it will once again increase the number of red blood cells in her blood flow and it should shock her right back into waking up. Seriously, what would you do without me?!" Damon explained as I saw him rolling his eyes in the mirror. Then again his explanation really did seem to make sense.

I nodded my head at his explanation, took another deep breath and began administering CPR.

"One… Two… Three… Four… Five…" I chanted as I pumped rhythmically on her chest.

I leant down and pressed my lips to hers to give her the kiss of life, however, she didn't react.

"One…Two… Three…Four…Five…" I repeated the same actions as before worrying that she would never wake.

"Damn it Care, Just wake up already!" I shouted exasperatedly as I began it all over again…

"One… Two…Three…"

And that was when she sat up coughing and spluttering, her cheeks were burning a bright red color and she was breathing heavily.

"Welcome back to the real world Blondie, what was it like being dead?" Damon asked sarcastically from the front.

"I was hoping for a bit of relaxation, unfortunately in my half dead state all I could hear was everyone, talking…" She said with a laugh, obviously grateful to be able to walk and talk again though.

Damon threw me a look via the rearview mirror.

"Ut-oh… I guess that means Niklaus here heard what we said about him…" Damon said drily.

"Yup" I responded, it was lucky we didn't say anything bad about him then I guess; not that I would have had anything bad to say about him, he had led this job very well despite the complications we had encountered.

"Are you just going to sit there all day or are you actually going to get around to waking Niklaus." She stated, hands on her hips.

I nodded at her before repeating the same actions on Klaus that I did on her.

"Oh and by the way guys, thank you so much for breaking Niklaus and I out, there was no way either of us would have been able to make it in prison." She said exhaling gratefully.

"You're welcome Blondie, but you haven't just got us to thank, everyone was involved in this." Damon responded.

"Oh yeah, we obviously saw Bonnie and Alaric at the hospital, and I heard Matt's voice down in the morgue; so whose master plan was this?" She inquired curiously.

"It was Elijah's; he is one smart dude…" Damon said with admiration in his tone; and if Elijah had Damon's approval then he really must be _'__one smart dude'._

Niklaus finally awoke after the CPR with a neutral expression on his face.

"Bloody hell that was quite literally the weirdest feeling ever." Klaus said as he took a deep breath.

**Caroline's POV**

I massive smile broke out on my face as Niklaus awoke; I launched myself at him for a gigantic hug. So far, we were both away from the police and we were together, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine something like this could ever happen.

The van came to a sudden halt and we both looked over at Damon and Stefan wondering what was up.

"What's going on?" Klaus asked sounding worried.

"We've reached the airport; you've got twenty minutes until the cop that was guarding you realizes you're gone, in the next twenty minutes we've got to get you on a plane and out of this country before half the cops in New York come after you." Damon said, not bothering to sugar-coat the reality of the situation.

We both nodded understanding the logic.

"Wait, how are we meant to get on a plane when our ID will just get flagged straight up?" I inquired.

"Don't you worry about that, Kol Mikaelson has made you both brand new ID, including driving licenses, Passports and everything else necessary. He even made you these very cool gadgets." Stefan said enviously, whilst he and Damon opened two small boxes to show us.

"No way…" Niklaus stated as he stared at the objects.

"I knew Kol was attempting to make these, but I was so sure he'd never actually finish…" He continued his eyes wide.

"So wait, what are they?" I asked, feeling stupid.

"Basically, you placed them onto the top of your fingers and they give you a new fingerprint. They replicate skin so they blend right in, no-one will notice a thing." Damon explained.

"Woah… that is _so_ clever, and all this time I thought Kol was just a pretty face!" I exclaimed, which earnt me a small scowl from Niklaus, I felt a giggle escape my lips.

"Yes, yes, we don't have time for this. Quickly, put these clothes on." Stefan said, shoving some clothing at us and climbing into the front seat.

We both did as we were told, and once we were done, Stefan came round and opened the back of the van; we were right outside the airport in the loading bay!

"Elena will be there to meet you at the checking in point, good luck to both of you!" Stefan said, giving me and Niklaus a hug.

"Thank you, thank you for everything mate." Niklaus said sadly, as he said goodbye to his best friend.

"Pass our thanks on to Damon too…" I stated, feeling my eyes begin to become teary.

"I will guys, see you soon…" Stefan said sadly.

Niklaus and I turned away and made our way into the airport, we were both feeling _very_ suspicious, anyone in here could recognize us at any moment in time, or maybe the guard would come to find us sooner and realize we were gone, if so, we'd never even have a chance to get on the plane.

We strode to the check in point, and there Elena was. I ran to her and gave her a quick hug, some tears beginning to run down my cheeks.

"Elena…"

"Sorry Care, we don't have time for this, here are your tickets, Identification and bags; if you're going to get on that plane you need to leave right now!" She exclaimed.

Niklaus took the things from Elena's outstretched hands whilst I hugged her once again.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." I stuttered out again and again, the tears falling rapidly now.

"You are the best friend in the entire universe and I'm going to miss you like crazy!" My words came tumbling out.

"I'll miss you too Care, but good luck and now go!" Elena exclaimed, tears now running down her cheeks too.

"Come on Caroline love, it's time to go…" Niklaus said coaxingly, leading me slowly away. I gave Elena one last hug goodbye and followed him.

We went to the self-check in desk because we knew it would be quicker, we entered our details quickly and efficiently and where off to the baggage drop in no time. Our bags were weighed, checked and everything was fine. When we were done Klaus and I smiled at one another, now we only had our carry-on bags they had prepared.

"Sir, ma'am, if you don't want to miss that plane, you're going to need to run…" The woman behind the desk stated.

"Thanks." Niklaus and I replied in unison and quickly began sprinting across the airport to our loading gate. We went quickly through security; it seems Elena had the sense not to pack any of Klaus's weapons into his carry-on bag.

There was a no queue at the gate, it seems everyone else had already been loaded on, I stared down at my watch and was happy to notice that we still had ten minutes until the guard would notice we were gone.

I exhaled quickly and passed my ticket and passport over to the woman behind the desk. She stared at it for a worryingly long time and I felt a funny feeling begin to form in my stomach, just when I thought we'd been caught, she waved me through the gate.

I met Klaus and we both ran to towards the plane and up the stairs, an air steward met us at the top and showed us to our seats.

We stored our luggage, settled into our seats, and buckled up.

Before we knew it the plane began take off, and we knew that we'd gotten away…


	28. Epilogue

**Caroline's POV**

I'm not going to lie; it had taken a long _long _time to adjust. I'd been living in the Maldives now for over two years, yet it still seemed like one big holiday.

With a new identity I was free to do as I pleased, well, even without a new identity I still would have been fine, aside from the beaches and amazing weather here the other perk was the fact there was no extradition to America, even if the authorities knew I were here, they could do nothing about it. Despite this, changing my name had been a major part of fitting into life here, if the neighbors knew who I really was, I knew they'd be very reluctant to spend time with me. So, as long as I never set foot on American soil again, I was a free woman.

I walked through into the kitchen and began to prepare a meal, life here has been so peaceful and so tranquil that some days it seems I have nothing major to do; hence why I learnt to cook. I never used to be able to produce so much as toast, yet here I was now creating a master piece. Even though I was now a multi-millionaire I have taken a job in the nearest town working as a chef in the local restaurant; it seems it's not only me who enjoys my new found talent for cooking.

Despite the fact that the lining of my pockets is filled with billions of dollars, I live to a pretty basic standard, I have a medium sized, well-furnished house set back from the beach and I never really spend any excess of money. I live well and I enjoy it; but just because I have money doesn't mean I'm going to blow it on whatever I want. Admittedly, if I see some clothes that I like, I buy them without bothering to look at the price tag like I used to before, but if I'm out food shopping I still collect coupons and try and get discounts. My friends think I'm stupid, but I'm not going to let money go to my head.

The only real expenditure that I had made an exception to was filling my garage with my favorite objects: Bikes. I had about seven of them now, one for every day of the week, and I didn't intend on getting anymore unless I sold one of them, I wasn't that greedy after all...

So no, there was no reason for any of my neighbors to think that I was exceedingly rich, or anything was amiss, they just assumed that I was a girl who'd worked hard in her younger years and was now able to provide for herself very well.

I stared down at my hands as I began to chop the tomatoes; oops, I did forget that there had been _one_ particularly big expenditure in the household just lately, but in my defense it had been bought _for _me.

I stared down at the exquisite 'diamond - rock' of an engagement ring that Niklaus had bought me about 9 months ago and still couldn't quite believe how lucky I had been to find him. Ever since the break-out the two of us had been inseparable and immediately started living with one another as soon as we moved out here. When I'd first met him I'd thought him a monster, a terrifying monster who'd done so many bad things that he couldn't be forgiven, but beneath his hard exterior he had a kind and loving heart, and I, Caroline Forbes had found that.

I heard some disturbance by the front door and knew it was him, he was probably struggling to unlock the front door whilst carrying the mountain of freshly caught fish he'd bought at the docks today. Niklaus now worked down at the mariner, he now had a little art gallery down there and produced wonderful art works of the sea, the boats and everything else that caught his artistic eye. He was some-what of a legend in this area, and everyone wanted to own one of his paintings, I was so proud of him sometimes I thought my heart might literally explode.

"Hello, sweetheart, have you had a good day?" He inquired as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed small kisses to my neck as I cooked.

"It's been really great; how about yours, get any good paintings done?" I inquired, turning in his embrace and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips quickly before he spoke.

"I finished a new one of the harbor, it's drying as we speak, and Millicent from down the road is interested in buying it. I would have framed it and prepared it tonight, but seeing as we are waiting for guests I thought it was best for me to finish up early." He said thoughtfully.

"Ah yeah, that was a good idea. Any chance you can go and quickly put the sheets on the double bed in the spare room?" I asked quickly, knowing it was cheeky considering he had only just gotten in.

"I thought you'd already sorted everything out love?" He asked curiously.

"So did I, but Elijah just rang and told me he's bringing Katherine too, and I'd prepared a bed in the single room for him, but sleeping arrangements have obviously changed if he's bringing Katherine." I explained stressed.

Klaus nodded and pressed a kiss to my forehead before putting his work-stuff away and making his way upstairs.

I finished off the dinner and placed it into the oven to cook; I knew that seeing as they'd all have spent hours travelling from all over the world that they'd be starving. It was a damn good job that I'd treated myself to a brand new, massive oven otherwise all the food wouldn't have fitted in! I threw of my apron and hung it up before dashing up the stairs to change, I ran into the bedroom and pulled out a new outfit before tugging it on, it seemed that Niklaus was doing the same thing.

"We haven't left ourselves much time have we sweetheart?" He said with a laugh as he tugged his shirt over his head and came over to help me with mine.

"Nope." I replied, whilst staring at the clock and pulling on some socks. With a sigh of relief we both plunked ourselves down on the bed with a thud.

"Woah, just in time…" I said, as I heard the doorbell ring.

We both leapt from the bed and clattered down the stairs, pulling the door open together.

"AH! It's the bride and groom to be!" Elena screamed as she pulled me into a massive hug, whilst we were both busy jumping up and down and giggling like teenagers, Stefan strode in from behind Elena and drew Niklaus into a hug (a very manly one of course!).

"Ohmygod it's so so _so_ good to see you!" I exclaimed over and over again, we'd been messaging one another and called each other every other day, but we hadn't seen one another in person for at least eight months.

"I know Care, I've missed you so much, but don't worry you're getting married in two weeks and I'm going to be the best maid of honor ever!" Elena responded.

I giggled in response and pulled her into yet another hug.

"Drinks are in the living room and your room is the one next to ours if you want to go and get settled in." Niklaus said stepping in with a smirk on his face.

Stefan and Elena nodded and smiled in response before making their way up the stairs.

After them came the others: Bonnie, Matt, Alaric, Kol, Elijah and Katherine, Jeremy, Rebecca and Damon who were now also an item.

"I thought your parents were coming?" I inquired later that night when all of us were gathered in the living room watching TV.

"Oh they're coming love, just fashionably late of course." Klaus replied with a laugh as he pulled me into is embrace on the couch.

I leant back against him and his arms went around me, and that was when I knew that I was the luckiest girl in the world.

I stared around at all my friends who surrounded me, my soon to be brothers and sister in law, my best friends since high school and other friends who had been made along the way.

They'd flown in from all over the world to see Niklaus and me, and witness our big day and it was going to be fantastic.

I had money to last me for the rest of my life.

I had the best fiancée in the world.

And I was a free woman with no intention of going anywhere near jail.

Life was good, and I knew what was coming in the future would be even better…

**Hey everyone!**

**So there you have it, the very last chapter of One Last Job, I really hoped you enjoyed it. Thank you so so much to everyone who's added this to their favorites and followed this story, you're all amazing.**

**Thanks also to all of you wonderful people who have been reviewing ever since chapter one, it was lovely to know that people were interested in this. **

**It would be great if you could all review this very last chapter as I would love to hear your thoughts.**

**Thanks again, and if you haven't already****,**** check out my first Klaroline story 'Klaus Bait, or something more?' and 'Summer Break' which I have just started!**

**:D**


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